Living Here
by rengaa
Summary: Roxas, Sora & Cloud Strife move to Destiny Islands and their lvies flip upsidedown. slashfic, mostly shonenai, implied lemon, main: Akuroku, Zemyx, Soriku. Cloud x ?
1. Welcome to Destiny Islands Now let's go

◆**1◆ **Welcome to Destiny Islands. Now let's go home

"See guys, this place looks friendly enough! We can survive here!" Sora pumped his fist in the warm air. Cloud and Roxas looked at him and then at the high school in front of them.

"Even if it does look friendly, it doesn't mean _I'll_ like it." Roxas crossed his arms and turned away. Their parents had been transferred here, to Destiny Islands, and Roxas had to leave his best friends Hayner, Pence and Ollette behind. It had only been two days since they moved to the island but he already was dying to see his friends again. As well as their old home in Twilight Town.

"Cheer up Mr. Emo! You'll see Hayner and kissy-kissy Ollette again." Sora, his twin, read his thoughts.

"Yeah well _I_ just don't want to settle down here…" Roxas repeated for the third time in the day.

"You're a broken record, Rox." Cloud patted his little brother's head and Roxas huffed.

"I told you never to call me that!" he forced Cloud's hand off of his head and subconsciously fixed his hair.

"Whatever you say." Cloud smiled and the three brothers walked toward the large building.

0o0o0o

"Riku! Hey, RIKU!" Riku turned at the sound of his name shouted over the crowd outside of school. Seeing the person who called his name, he brightened.

"Hey Axel." Riku greeted the other.

"Hey yourself. You said we were gunna do stuff this summer then you disappeared! What's happening to our friendship?" Axel threw his hands in the air then fell to his knees and grabbed onto Riku, begging to emphasize his point.

"Settle down or everyone will know. Remember what happened to Mickey when he was found out?" Axel paled at the memory and stood up. "Yeah, we don't want _that _to happen again."

"Ok, ok I'll change the topic." Axel thought for a moment. "Have you seen anybody nice looking yet? Or what about new people?"

"That's not exactly changing the topic." Riku pointed out. "But, no. I haven't seen anybody as of- hold the phone."

Axel followed Riku's gaze. "Umm, dude, I didn't think you were the one to go for the big jocks…"

"No, I'm not. The kid behind the ugly jock, dumbass."

"O right… O! You mean the spiky brown kid?" Axel pointed at Sora who was currently talking animatedly to somebody who they couldn't see.

Riku swatted his hand down. "Yea and don't point!"

"Whatever. I guess he is pretty cute… Although he looks umm, really straight…"

"Heh, since when did that stop my sexiness?" he flipped his silver hair and put his hands on his hips.

"Ok, never ever put your hands on your hips. If I didn't know better, you'd be a girl." A pair of hands covered Axel's eyes. "H-hey! Who's that?"

"You must be blind babe! Riku is a girl!" Riku snorted. "Furthermore, he's an arrogant, stuck-up bitch that somehow manages to attract everyone in his vicinity."

"Dem! Long time no erm see!" Axel tore the hands off his face and started to laugh.

Demyx hugged him then quickly pulled away so no one would get suspicious. "Hey babe! Looking sexy." Demyx winked and smiled and Axel couldn't help but smile back.

He bent towards Demyx's ear and put a hand to hide his mouth but still talked loud enough for Riku to hear as well. "Riku has a new stalkee." Riku sighed and covered his eyes.

"Uuuuu! Where?" Demyx bounced on his toes.

"There." Axel pointed at the brunette who was looking at a class schedule with somebody.

"Sorry to tell you bitch but he looks pretty straight."

"Thank you for the update, I really couldn't see that." Riku glared at Demyx.

"Gee, bitch, lighten up! It's the first day of school. I'm sure you can change his sexual preferences this year." Demyx slung his arm around Riku's shoulder. "Off to see old Mansex first I presume? Me too! I wonder how _that_ happened…" Demyx gave an elusive smirk.

"Hey me too!" Axel bounced.

"Ugg." Riku huffed and then sighed. "Do one thing for me. I do not want to be seen as gay here unless I can get Brownie so please," he shrugged off Demyx's arm. "Less contact."

Axel and Demyx both pouted and followed him into the school.

0o0o0o

Ok if you actually read this first chapter, know a few things

I've written at least 20 chapters full of this crazy (as in unorganized and with lots of angst and troubles) fanfic. I'm not sure if I really like my plot or not and as many times as I have re-read it, I can't decide if I really want to put this up here or not. Eventually though, I decided to put it up whether or not anybody reads this or not. TT

I have realized my lack of character development and also my lack of description at times but please no flames if you do decide on reviewing.


	2. Flex your ribs

◆**2◆ **Flex your ribs

Cloud sighed as he stared out the window. He was at the back of a classroom of people whom he still knew none of. Quite a few of the girls had come up to him and started chitchat but he really didn't care about them - or any girl for that matter. Other than for Mom, he'd have no contact with the female population whatsoever. Or the men either for that matter. In their old school, Cloud had been classified in the 'non-sociable' group. He always sat by himself at lunch or with his brothers.

He sighed again. The teacher wasn't paying attention at all. He could sense at least three heads turned and looking - no staring - at him. The bell rang and the teacher quickly wrote a math assignment on the board. Cloud lazily copied down the homework then packed his bag and headed out the door, frowning slightly.

He was just outside the door when someone lightly touched his shoulder. Cloud turned to find an eccentric girl dressed all in pink and white.

"Hi, I'm Aerith." She stuck out her hand with a small smile.

"Cloud." He shook her hand. "Can I help you?"

Aerith looked at her feet. "Well, you just look so sad." She looked up and smiled. "I think you need a friend… But I'll leave you alone if you don't think the same." She added quickly, smile fading.

Cloud contemplated the girl for a minute. She looked like she was genuinely trying to be his friend, not just a high school fling. Cloud smiled. "My brothers always tell me I need a friend." Her face brightened. "So, Aerith, what's your next class?"

0o0o0o

"_Rooooooooxas._ Hey, Roxas!" Sora whispered jabbing his twin with a sharp pencil. Roxas was currently sleeping on his math textbook and crumpling up a few pages of loose paper.

Roxas mumbled something unintelligible then lifted his head up slowly. Eyes half open, he looked around. "What- Sora! Why'd you wake me up? I know that this math class is ever-so-fun but I don't exactly feel like playing with numbers today." Roxas hissed sharply back.

"Are you always this grumpy when you wake up? O wait, yeah you are." Sora attempted to smirk but all he could muster was a cute glare.

Roxas sighed and boredly wrote down some notes from the board. He absolutely hated algebra but for some reason, he and Sora were both good at it.The bell rang and Sora shot out of his seat. "Jeez Sor, will you _ever _get used to any bell?" Roxas smiled and grabbed his bag. Sora did the same and they headed to their next class. Somehow, they had gotten the same exact schedule. It was most likely their mom though. She knew they shared a really strong bond and if they didn't have each other, they might not have anybody.

"What's our next class?" Roxas asked while they walked down the hall.

"Erm lemme check." Sora dug in his bag and pulled out a crumpled schedule. "Gym!"

Roxas gulped. Sora was crazy in gym. Especially whenever they played a sport with balls. Or pucks for that matter. Actually, the only sport that was relatively safe to be around Sora in was track. Not even swimming was safe! Sora loved to play sports and he was good at them, but he just wasn't safe while he played them.

Sora, seeming to know exactly where gym class was, dragged Roxas down a hallway and into a locker room. He and Roxas found their lockers and took off their shirts to change. They looked at each other and glanced down at each other's bodies. "Sora, you're so skinny! You need to eat more." Roxas poked Sora's stomach and Sora giggled.

"Look who's talking? People call you emo Roxas! If they ever see you shirtless, they'll think you're anorexic or suicidal or something. I can see all your ribs."

"Your ribs aren't exactly invisible either." Roxas pointed out.

"Ok fine. Put your shirt on. Let's eat a big lunch today. Mom gave me extra munny in case you got beaten up again and your munny was stolen." Roxas sulked and they both put on their gym shirts. Then changed their shorts and headed out to the gym, unaware of a silver-haired teen that was watching a certain brunette.

0o0o0o

I don't mean to show Roxas as an anorexic guy- just really skinny. One of those people who everybody wants to be because they can't gain weight easily. Joy.


	3. Bluish

◆**3◆ **Bluish

"Listen up kiddies!" the gym teacher was only five minutes into the first class of the year and he was already losing it. "Hey you! Yeah you! I thought I said listen up!" He threw a ball at the unsuspecting kid and he hit the floor hard. Everyone was suddenly fascinated by the teacher and stood still.

"Seeing as today is our first day, you guys can play a game o' dodge ball. Hitting below the belt isn't good but you can hit above shoulders. Yea, have fun with that. O and for the newbies, my name is Cid Highwind – call me Cid- and I'll be yer gym teacher for the whole year so get used to it." He proceeded to split the students into two groups and then dump a basket of balls onto the floor.

Roxas and Sora were together which made Roxas nervous. His brother seemed to have some magical power to hit him in the face at least once everyday and it hadn't happened yet.

On the other side of the gym, Riku was at the back of the court, waiting for all the bad people to get out. Once done, he caught a ball that was aimed for his head and shot it right back to the blonde who had thrown it. The kid was standing there, next to his jumpy, cute brunette looking quite bored. Riku watched as the kid dodged every ball that was thrown his way, including Riku's. Brownie – as Riku called him – was also dodging every ball that attempted to hit his pretty face but he looked like he was having fun rather than the guy next to him.

Riku watched and then laughed to himself. Brownie had some how managed to knock down the blonde and also two other guys that happened to be standing too close all in one blow. Distracted, all four guys got hit and went to sit on the bleachers. Riku barely managed to avoid an oncoming ball. He looked at the blonde boy who was sitting next to Brownie. Riku couldn't tell from his point of view what the kid looked like but from how close the two boys were sitting, he hoped that there was something more behind their closeness other than boyfriendship.

0o0o0o

"Cloud, I have a question to ask you but I'm not sure about it so don't get mad that I asked ok?" Aerith and Cloud had ended up having every class together so they decided to sit together. It was a free period so they were in the library, finishing some math problems.

Cloud gulped. He sure hoped it wasn't the question he didn't want to hear. "Sure…"

"Well ok then. Ummm are you… gay?"

His eyes widened and he turned away. "Is that a bad thing?"

"O, no! Don't worry, I just- well, I just… That is, you weren't looking at the cheerleaders as we walked by them. Or any other girl other than me for that matter and so I wanted to know if you're gay or straight."

"Well I am. But please don't tell anybody ok? My brothers don't even know, let alone my parents."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." And with that, they turned back to their math homework. Cloud inwardly rejoiced. He finally had somebody who he could talk to.

0o0o0o

"Dem, aren't we supposed to add this, not that one?" Axel held out a beaker to his science partner.

"No, no, no! We're adding this one!" Demyx stubbornly poured a chemical into another beaker.

"Dem!" Axel started to back away from the table as the mixture bubbled. All of a sudden the concoction let out a quiet pop and then sprayed upwards, all over Demyx's face. Demyx let out a small yelp and ran to the sink. By now, everyone in the class was watching except for the teacher who had decided she needed to use the bathroom.

As Demyx quickly washed off his face, Axel howled in laughter, clutching his side. The stuff on Dem's face was bright blue and he was wearing blue jacket and pants so it gave the impression of an overgrown smurf. The rest of the class had gone back to their work or was watching with slight interest. They were all used to Demyx and Axel's crazy outbreaks.

Demyx turned around from the sink when he was sure that the mixture was off his face. Axel just stared at him, trying to suppress laughter. That just made his face as red as his hair.

"What?" Demyx was confused.

"Y-your face! I-it's still b-blue!" Demyx got his handy-dandy mirror out of his bag and looked.

"Waa!! I'm blue!"

"And in need of a guy, and in need of a guy…" Axel chimed in. Demyx sighed.

"I'll be blue forever!" Demyx slumped on his desk and the bell rang.

"Well, sorry to leave you babe, but I told Riku that I'd meet him exactly now so I'll see you at lunch!" With that, Axel ran out of the room with a wave behind his back.

Demyx sighed again and rested his head on the desk, mumbling something about blue. He was planning ways to change his skin color like Michael Jackson when someone tapped lightly on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, Demyx? I think I might be able to help you get that blue off…" Demyx looked up and fell in love.

0o0o0o

That song. I forgot who it was sung by but it pops into my head at really random moments. Like math tests. I remember how it used to be really popular in my old school but nobody ever knew the lyrics. I choose to like this version.


	4. The truth about new people

◆**4◆ **The truth about new people

Roxas trotted along behind Sora through the hallway after gym. They had been left alone for the whole day – except some people looking at them – and they had especially been left alone after the gym incident. Now, it was lunch and they were running late. The halls were deserted except for the random kid here and there.

The brothers walked out a door to the school grounds for a shortcut and three pairs of eyes turned toward them.

"Well, well, well. I thought the school had some newbies but I wasn't expecting them to be so scrawny!" a blond boy said. He had a hat on and was a little taller than the twins.

"Me neither y' know? Lets get us some easy pickings y' know!" a bulkier, darker boy said.

"Instant jackpot." A short girl with blue hair said unenthusiastically.

"We're not here to fight!" Sora quickly stepped in front of Roxas and waved his hands. "We were just going to lunch now so if you excuse us…" Sora grabbed Roxas' wrist and began to drag him back inside.

"Hey I was talking to you!" the blonde kicked Sora's shin hard enough for him to drop Roxas' wrist and bend over in pain.

"Hey! What do you want? Leave us alone!" Roxas held his hand out to Sora and he shakily stood. They went for the door again.

"Not so fast y' know?" the large boy stepped in front of the door. The blond kicked Sora's other shin and then punched his stomach and his eye. Sora keeled over and Roxas backed away, unsure.

"I'm Seifer. This is Rai and that's Fuu." The blond gestured. "You should know that we get what we want, no matter what it takes." He proceeded to kick Sora. "Now, give us your munny kid." Seifer held out his hand to Roxas who took a step back. Then Seifer punched him in the stomach.

"Munny. Now." Fuu backed up.

"N-no I don't have to give you guys anything!" Roxas almost shouted.

Seifer just kicked his knee hard and he doubled over.

"Hey! Seifer! Pick on somebody your own size for a change!" Seifer turned. When he saw the oncoming teen, he actually took a step back.

"A-axel! Why are y-you here?" Seifer stuttered.

"None of your beeswax. Actually, it never is any of your business." The redhead shook his head and saw the vulnerable forms on the ground behind the gang. "Jeez Seif! Get outta here now and never touch these two again and I won't hurt you."

As if to prove a point, Axel broke a random pencil using one hand in seconds. Rai and Fuu took off around the corner. When Seifer saw they were gone, he turned heel and ran behind them.

Axel sighed. He looked at the two people on the ground. O! It was that spiky brown-haired kid who Riku had pointed out! And some blond guy who was trying to help the brunette although he was hurt as well.

Axel took a step closer to the boys and held out his hand to help them up. The blond disregarded the hand and helped the brown one up. Annoyed, Axel stuck his hand out again.

"Hi. I'm Axel. Memorize it." the blond looked skeptically at the red head but then took the hand.

"Thank you, Axel. I'm Roxas and this is Sora." Roxas shook Axel's hand lightly before letting it drop.

Axel looked between the two. "Are you two related?"

"Twins." Roxas and Sora said immediately.

Creepy. "Well, you're new so wanna go to lunch with me? Nobody will even try to steal anything if you're friends with me." He proudly poked his thumb to his chest. The twins looked at each other then back at the tall red head.

"Sure, why not."

0o0o0o

"Aerith, are all the people looking at you or me?" Cloud nervously whispered in Aerith's ear as they walked to lunch.

"You of course." Cloud shrunk. "I mean, whenever we get new kids, they're usually from the neighboring island, never from the mainland…" fist below chin as if thinking. "Definitely. Nobody ever looks at me except teachers and my few friends."

The shrunken Cloud spoke. "When we get lunch, I have to find my brothers first ok?" Aerith nodded.

"I'll introduce you to my friends too. They weren't in any of our classes today." Cloud gulped. He had been bad with meeting new people ever since the first day of kindergarten when the teacher made him stand up in front of class and introduce himself. That day he went home crying, wearing the school's only pair of extra pants that fit him. It really didn't help that they were pink, form-fitting girls pants either…

"Cloud, you ok?" Aerith poked his cheek.

"Hmm? O, yeah, I'm fine… It's just I'm not so good with new people…"

"Well, I guess it'll help that I'm not popular for once then. I only have three to six friends at my table. Unless, that is, your brothers found friends and they want to sit with us…"

Cloud groaned and pushed open the cafeteria doors. Immediately the overpowering smell of pizza flooded him. Wait, pizza?

When he made a confused face, Aerith spoke. "The first Monday of every month is pizza day… They make it expensive but it's better than the normal stuff so we try to enjoy it. Let's get some and then we'll find my friends." They headed for the long line of ravenous students. "Ok, I have to tell you some things about them before we meet them. First off, the hyper black-haired girl is Yuffie. She thinks she's a ninja and she loves to kill things so be careful with her. Then there's Leon. He's got longish brown hair a scar on his face. Don't look at me like that! I still don't know why it's there either. Anyway, even though he's quiet and tough on the outside, he's really nice once you get to know him. Those two are always there when we eat so you'll definitely see them today. Sephiroth is another guy who sometimes sits with us. He's got long silver hair and looks really scary. To tell you the truth, he scares me a lot. Then there's Yuna, Paine and Rikku. They're like one person. They do everything together and to tell you the truth again, I think they might love each other more than friends but it's just a hunch. I guess I'm friends with all the misfits. O look, pizza!" ADD much? She grabbed a tray and got some slices with pepperoni on them. Cloud followed suit with two slices of cheese for himself. They paid and he scampered after Aerith because some girls in pink miniskirts were looking at him.

When Aerith stopped at a table and sat down, Cloud blinked. Nobody was there but there was a tray with food on it, untouched. All of a sudden, there was a pair of arms around his neck.

"Aerith he's soooo cute!" A girl practically shrieked in his ear.

"Yuffie… Are you feeling all right? You never say the 'C' word." Aerith pried Yuffie off of Cloud's neck and felt her forehead.

"I'm fine" She batted away the hand. "What's your name o so quiet one?" Yuffie looked at Cloud.

"Cloud…?" He looked confused.

"Welcome Cloud to the Ninja-club-of-flowers-and-quiet-lonely-scar-faced-peoples." She peace-signed. "Now where's Leon, Aerith?"

"Hey." They all turned to see the tall brunette behind them.

"Leon!" Yuffie hugged/attacked him and he looked down at her unfazed.

"Hey Yuffie. Hi Aerith. Hi…?"

"Cloud" Aerith supplied.

"Hi Cloud." He stuck out his hand. Cloud shakily took it and shook it briefly. Feeling himself staring, he dropped Leon's hand and looked away. Leon shot Aerith a glance. At that, She just mouthed 'I'll explain later' and they sat down.

Yuffie took over the conversation immediately with Aerith throwing in her two cents every once in a while. Leon was listening but was very interested in his cheese pizza and Cloud couldn't keep up with the ninja girl. He was looking around and his eyes lay on the door to the hallways he had come through. He felt Yuffie shake the table as she hopped up to get some napkins since she spilled Leon's drink. Some girls walked towards the table as Yuffie left and went up to Cloud one at a time. Leon and Aerith perked up and looked over and Cloud managed to lift his head off his hands.

"Hi. Would you like to go to the movies with me?" A blonde girl asked him.

"Sorry, not today."

She dejectedly walked away and another rather busty girl came up. "Want to go with me to the mall?"

"Umm no…" Aerith and Leon watched awkwardly as Cloud was bombarded with at least fifty girls asking him out in a total time span of 5 minutes. Yuffie came back and sat close to Leon. Her biggest fear was of cheerleaders.

"Would you like to go to dinner with me?" A particularly sluttish looking girl asked.

"No."

"Pleeeasse?"

"No thank you."

"Awww are you scared pretty boy?"

"No."

"Then go out with me!"

"No."

"Why not?" She persisted.

"No." he made and angry face that seemed to scare her off as well as the others.

"Ahem, ahem. What was that? You could've gone out with the most popular girls in school but you turned them down! On your first day too! Boy…" Yuffie rambled.

"What exactly was that?" Leon spoke.

"How should I know?" Cloud shot back.

"Well do you have a good reason to turn down a bunch of girls? I mean, if that had been me!" Leon stared back at Cloud.

Cloud blinked then sighed.

"Aerith, will they bug me about this forever?"

"Yes."

"Are they trustworthy?"

"Surprisingly yes, they haven't told a single secret about anyone for as long as I can remember."

"Ok, tell them then."

"You mean-"

"Yeah, I don't give fuck anymore! I'm tired of living like this!" Cloud buried his head in his arms.

"You s-sure?" Aerith wasn't too fond of swearing.

Cloud mumbled something like 'yes'.

"Ok umm, Cloudisgay." Aerith blurted quietly.

"What I can't hear you." Yuffie leaned in and so did Leon.

"I said, Cloud is gay." She whispered. Leon and Yuffie looked at each other then at Cloud who was getting more emo every second.

Yuffie was about to say something but was cut off when a skinny boy ran up and pulled Cloud's head back, covering his eyes. Cloud looked surprised but then responded. "Sora get off."

"How'd ya know it was me?" Cloud turned and Sora pouted. "I could've been Roxas!"

"Maybe because Roxas has been too emo for the past couple weeks to even think about doing that?"

"O, right. Eheh." He scratched the back of his head.

"Sor, who beat you up?"

"What!" Sora jumped. "I was beat up? When?" He looked around.

Cloud grabbed his wrist. "Sora don't play this with me. Were you protecting Roxas again?"

"No I fell down the stairs!"

"Suuuuure. You got a black eye from falling down the stairs."

"I did!"

"Don't worry, I'll figure it out soon enough." He turned back to his pizza only to see three pairs of eyes staring intently at him and Sora. "O, right. Sora, meet Aerith, Leon and Yuffie. Guys, this is Sora, one of my baby brothers." Said brother waved enthusiastically. "His other half is currently not here. Where is Rox anyway?"

"Uuuu I'm gunna tell him you called him Rox again! He was with this guy we met, Axel I think, when I left him in the lunch line."

"Axel?" Leon spoke even more interested in Cloud's odd brother.

"Who called?" Said red head appeared with Roxas in tow.

"Hey Cloud. Sora's making me eat food again." A blond boy walked up and stood next to Sora. Leon, Aerith and Yuffie were surprised at how much they looked alike. Sora was a little tanner and his eyes were a bit bigger but otherwise, they could've been the same person.

"Bad day?" Cloud asked.

"You could say that." Roxas sullenly looked at Cloud. "O this," he pointed at the tall red head behind him. "Is Axel. Axel, Cloud bla bla bleh." Roxas proceeded to sit down on the floor and nibble on the crust of his pizza, oblivious to the fact that everyone sitting at the table was looking at him.

"Ok…" Sora sat down between Cloud and Yuffie at the round table and Axel decided to sit down between Aerith and Yuffie.

"When my friends come, can they join? There aren't any tables left…" Axel looked at Leon who just nodded in return.

"So, you were saying Cloud?" Leon turned his head toward Cloud while Axel, Sora and Yuffie got into a discussion about some sport.

Cloud blinked. Was this guy serious? He just spilled his biggest secret ever since the fifth grade and he wanted him to do what now? "Hmm? Does it really matter what I said? Just deal for now and if you hate me, then I promise to never have contact with you again whatsoever." he stared back.

"N-no, I don't give…" Leon turned back to his last lonely slice of pizza. He didn't know what to think. He'd never met a person who liked the same gender before so he didn't know if he should be afraid of the guy falling in love with him or what would happen if the school found out there was a queer in their midst.

The bell rang and everybody started to get up. Axel looked confused.

Roxas knocked on his head. "You alive?"

Axel looked up and blinked. "O it's just my friends Riku and Demyx didn't come to lunch today…"

"Well, cheer up. The emo slot has been filled." Roxas almost smiled but it passed when Sora grabbed his wrist and pulled him off to their next class.

Axel smiled. He was starting to like the weird little emo kid. Maybe….

0o0o0o

"Thanks again… umm sorry! What was your name again? I'm horrible at names…" Demyx slapped his forehead.

"Hey, no problem. And I'm Zexion. I'm only in science with you." Zexion almost smiled.

"Ok, well see ya later Zexy!" Demyx smiled brightly and waved, turning on his heel and walking down the hall.

Zexion looked like a tomato. He stared after the retreating blond. How could he have fallen for this guy? He wasn't the brightest in the school- or at least, he didn't act it. He was really cute though. There. Zexion's weakness. Cuteness. He sighed and walked the opposite direction.

Demyx practically skipped down the empty hallways. He couldn't wait to tell Bitch and Axel! Now both Bitch and himself had crushes, only Axel needed to find himself one! He was skipping around the corner, humming the tune of his favorite Swedish (whatever that was) song, Boten Anna, when he ran into somebody and they both thudded to the floor.

"Hey! Watch where you're- o hey Dem." Riku opened his eyes, rubbing his neck.

"Bitch! I have news!"

"Did somebody die?"

"No…"

"What then?" Riku helped the blonde up.

"I found love!"

"Again?"

"Don't say it like that! This time I think it's real!"

Riku sighed. "Ok, who?"

"Ya know that guy with the bluish emo hair who is really quiet?"

"…Yea…"

"Him!"

"…"

"His name is Zexion and he helped me in science when I accidentally dyed my face blue and then we got to talking and even though he's really quiet, he talks a lot! And he's really normal too! He's not like 'oh-em-gee slit my throat' or anything like people think he is!"

"That's great Dem. I'd really have to meet him though for me to believe that fully. And how the hell did you 'accidentally' dye your face blue?"

"Well, that's Bitch for ya." Demyx started to walk around Riku but was stopped. "What?"

"Let's skip lunch today. I found Axel's car keys and I want to see what he stashes in his car."

"Great idea!" Demyx grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out to the parking lot. They found the old red and rusty pick-up truck parked in the back of the lot. The two friends proceeded to open the driver's side door.

"Wow." Was all Riku could say.

"This is cleaner than his room!" Demyx hopped into the passenger seat and Riku closed the door behind him when he got into the driver's seat. Demyx opened the glove compartment while Riku checked under his seat. Demyx gasped when he pulled out a letter addressed to Riku and himself. "Bitch! Look!" Demyx handed him the note.

"Ok… weird. Let's read it."

'Hey Dem, Riku. I knew the day would come when you broke into my rust dump. This is why I keep it clean. Well, you'll NEVER figure out where my hiding spots are in this car! O and just so you know, I have THE best blackmail on both of you if you ever do find my hiding spot… Love, Ax'

"Ahh! I told you he was psychic but does anybody ever listen to little Demyx! Noooo!" Demyx jumped out of the car.

"Ok, Dem, Axel is psychic… I agree." Riku shook his head and hopped out of the Chevy behind Demyx. "I wonder what Axel is doing without us anyway…"

"Probably dieing." Demyx seriously added.

Riku just nodded and walked to class.

0o0o0o

Know that song Boten Anna by Basshunter? I've got it on my ipod and it gets really stuck in my head. If you don't know it, look it up on Youtube or something.

O and I really wanted to make a different person the bully (because whenever I read fics, Seifer is a bully a lot of the time) but I couldn't think of anyone else and I have no OC that would even come close to fitting so I stuck with him.


	5. Filler Much?

◆**5◆ **Filler much?

"Bye Aerith. Bye Leon, Yuffie." Cloud waved and turned to leave the three teens behind. It was the end of his first day here and he felt odd. He had told his secret and they hadn't killed him for it!

When Cloud was a distance away, Yuffie turned to Aerith and Leon. She looked nervous. Biting her lip she finally spoke up. "Guys…? Umm I feel like I need to tell you something too."

Aerith worried. Yuffie never acted like this. All nervous and quiet. "Ok sure."

"I'm bi."

Aerith and Leon looked back at her wide-eyed. They would have never guessed that she swung like that. Actually, they had never guessed that anybody they would ever meet swung that way but that had already been proved wrong. When they didn't talk, Yuffie looked like she was about to cry. Leon couldn't stand it when people cried in front of him. He always felt awkward and never knew what to do. So, since Aerith wasn't moving, he gruffly wrapped his arms around the girl and hugged her. Yuffie, taken aback, hugged him back.

They broke apart after a few awkward seconds. Yuffie smiled, waved and walked down the street towards her block. Leon and Aerith turned to each other. "I feel like sitting here for a while. Will you join?" She finally asked.

"Why not?" They sat down under the shade of a tree. It was a comfortable thing that the friends had done a lot of times before. Because of their closeness, some onlookers believed them to be a couple but they knew that they weren't. They were close though, in a sibling sort of way. They were both looking down the street the way that Cloud had gone because he was still walking, very slowly.

He looked sadly at the school on his left but perked up when a brown haired boy came hurtling down the slope in front of the high school and tackled Cloud to the ground. Sora sat on top of Cloud's stomach, grinning madly at his big brother beneath him.

"SORA!" Aerith and Leon easily heard the blonde lump shout. Sora shot up when he saw Cloud's enraged face and started running away from Cloud. Cloud dropped his backpack next to Sora's and ran after his little brother. An unsuspecting Roxas strolled over the hill and Sora collided with him. Cloud, being a fast runner, was right behind him and couldn't stop. They all ended up rolling down the hill to the street in a tangle of limbs.

By now, Leon and Aerith were in hysterics because of the new kids' antics. Sora always seemed to be so energetic and Roxas always seemed so laid back. Cloud on the other hand just seemed normal. Together the three balanced each other out pretty well although Roxas and Cloud seemed prone to catching Sora's energetic spaz attacks.

Cloud managed to pull himself free of the ball of humans and brushed himself off. Roxas was next to escape Sora, and looked unfazed, expression blank although his hair was quite a bit out of place. Sora had managed to contort himself so that his leg was over his head and was looking painfully up at Cloud. Cloud just shook his head and grabbed his bag. Roxas jumped on Cloud's back, wrapping his arms and legs around the bigger blond. Cloud started to walk away from Sora but when Roxas said something, he turned back and helped Sora up. He tossed his bag at Sora and Aerith caught something about 'Roxas' and 'the mall'. Sora jumped up and down and they started to walk together toward Aerith and Leon.

Cloud looked up at the pair when Sora pointed them out. He smiled lightly at them as the brothers walked by but didn't stop.

"Clooooouuud. Go faster! I need clothes!" Roxas kicked his brother in his sides.

"I am not a horse thank you very much." Cloud retorted.

"Horse. Big brother. What's the difference?" Sora shot a large lopsided grin back at his brothers.

Cloud just kept walking and stuck out his tongue at Sora. At that, Sora jumped onto Roxas' back who was still on Cloud's back. "Sora! Get off!" Cloud twisted around and threw Sora off. "Let's just go already." The brothers started to walk again, leaving Aerith and Leon under the tree.

"They're all really close aren't they?" Leon said to Aerith.

"Almost too close." Aerith put a fist under her chin, thinking. "You know, usually siblings don't get along as well as they do. I wonder why."

"Well, it is a strange family – or at least what we've seen of it." Leon added, yawning. He closed his eyes just for a second…

0o0o0o

Roxas sat on the carpet of his barely unpacked bedroom. Boxes lined the walls still and all he'd managed to unload were some clothes and school supplies. He sighed.

At the mall he had persuaded Cloud into buying him a bunch of new clothes. His brothers were reluctant though in which clothes he bought. He liked black and white clothes mostly and his closet was full of those shades. They had tricked him though. Cloud sat with him eating smoothies in the cafeteria while Sora ran off to the 'game' shop. Instead of returning with games, he had come back with a couple bags of colorful clothing in Roxas' size. He had proceeded to make a deal with his twin that he would wear one piece of colorful clothing everyday.

Sora had blackmail. Good blackmail too. He had pictures of Roxas sleeping with his childhood toy, Mister Dusky. It was white and had a reminiscent shape of a human but with longer, ganglier limbs and a bigger head. He had made it in first grade and loved it ever since but it was a bit embarrassing to be fifteen and have a stuffed toy.

He rummaged through a box by the window and found the little toy. He was happy it had survived the long trip. He hugged the toy close and fell asleep curled up near the window.

0o0o0o

Okay, I wrote this chapter intending it to go on to something happening at the mall but I got a new idea. Instead of deleting it, I'm using it like the title says.

And yes, 'Mister Dusky' is supposed to be a dusk nobody.

… I hate it. Whenever I wrote 'spaz', it wants me to write it a 'spas'… that bugs me a lot for some not comprehensible reason.


	6. Skip the Formalities

◆**6◆ **Skip the formalities

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around, startled.

"A-axel!" Roxas spluttered.

"The one and only." Axel smirked, releasing his hold. "When did you wake up? You've missed like what three classes?"

"Look who's talking! You're the one who stopped me on my way to school."

"You haven't answered my question."

"I woke up on time but my brother tied me to my bed," Axel gulped "and I couldn't get out until like fifteen minutes ago."

"I thought you guys were really close – like unnaturally close?"

"Sora is unpredictable."

"The brown one?"

"Yeah."

They walked in silence for a couple minutes.

"Y' know, we could skip school today. I could show you all the best places around here…" Axel turned to Roxas.

"R-really? Wouldn't we get in trouble?" Roxas was taken aback. Nobody ever became friends with him this fast.

"Nah. It's only the second day of school. Hell, half of the normal teachers aren't even back from summer break yet!"

Roxas thought for a moment, looking at Axel. Could somebody really have become friends with him in this short amount of time? He hadn't exactly been popular in his old school even if he had some close friends and had a small group of fan girls.

Axel blinked he was surprised about how much this new kid had already gotten to him. They had had what? Five conversations in total? Hell, he didn't even know his last name or where he lived or when his birthday was or what his favorite flavor of pie was!

"Ok. But I have no munny whatsoever." Roxas replied.

"Good. Let's go into town and get some good food, my treat." Axel smugly turned and waited for Roxas to follow.

Roxas stuck his tongue out at the red head and followed suit. Axel just smirked back, mentally dancing.

0o0o0o

"Cloud." The blond turned toward the low and familiar voice. Leon walked up to him.

"Hey."

"Hey. Aerith is helping the nurse today with something and Yuffie is out 'sick'." Cloud blinked. "Aerith said that you don't know where all your classes are yet so I'm supposed to show you around."

"O-kay…" Cloud started to walk down the hallway towards their first class, home ec. They got inside, took two seats next to each other and waited. Five minutes late, the door burst open and a long, silver-haired man strode in.

"Hello young students. I am Mr. Xemnas and I will be your home economics teacher this school year." He wrote his name on a whiteboard and spoke matter-of-factly. "To start, I'd like you all to make something, anything, in the oven, with a partner that is. You have forty-five minutes. And, put your heart into it." With that, he sat down behind a desk and started to read the newest People magazine.

"Partners?" Leon turned to Cloud as the room filled with the loud buzz of talking.

"What are we making?"

"Something easy and kind of quick…"

"Cookies?"

"Why not." They set to work.

0o0o0o

Sora stood in the middle of the hallway, staring at his locker. No matter how many times he turned the lock, it wouldn't budge. He was about to try and kill it with his foot but was stopped.

"Hey, you ok?" Sora turned. The guy had blond hair and big blue eyes and was wearing baggy skate clothes.

"No my locker sucks." Sora whined.

"…Need help then?" the blond persisted.

"Uh sure. My combo is 8, 4, 9." Sora whispered the last bit.

The kid managed to open the locker without hassle. "I'm Tidus."

"Sora, and thanks for opening my locker."

"Eh no prob." Tidus waved it off while Sora dug around in his locker. When he found what he was looking for, he closed his locker and faced Tidus.

"What's your next class?" Sora asked.

"Math with Mr.Luxord. You?"

"Same but I don't know where it is. I just moved here from Twilight Town."

"Twilight Town! Really? I've always wanted to go there but I haven't got around to it yet. C'mon I'll show you class." They started to walk. "What's it like?"

"Twilight Town isn't all that great but then I guess I've lived there my whole life so I didn't think much of it. It's always shadowy and always a little chilly. Destiny Islands is like a whole other world compared to Twilight Town! Everything here is so bright and colorful and I absolutely love it! But my brother Roxas doesn't. I'm not sure about my other brother yet though. And my parents are always away so I don't know what they think of it either and am I rambling?"

"Just a bit. I don't mind though, a lot of people around here do that. I'll have to introduce you to Selphie, she does that a lot too."

"Okay sure." They walked into math class.

0o0o0o

"Demyx, Demyx, Demyx. What AM I going to do with you?" The voice smirked through the phone.

"It's not funny Reno! Did you or didn't you eat Axel? He's not at school!" Demyx exasperatedly huffed through the phone. Riku snickered behind him and Demyx kicked his knee.

"Really, why would I want to eat my brother of all things? Hnnnn? There are much tastier things than him." The voice smirked again.

"Stop it! God that's not what I meant and you know it!"

"Do I?"

"Do you know where Axel is?"

"Why should I?"

"Because you're his brother!"

"O piss off bitch! I'm not his personal GPS. "

"Go fuck yourself!"

"Isn't that what Rude's here for?"

Demyx slammed his phone shut. Sometimes he really couldn't stand Reno. But, he had to deal with the constant torture of the older redhead since he and Axel shared an apartment. Well, it was more like Axel, Reno and Rude's apartment since he was over so much.

Riku smiled. Demyx was really funny when he was this pissed off. His eyes got really big and his normally spiked hair seemed to get even spikier (but maybe that was just him). Sometimes, if he was really mad, he would turn close to the color of Axel's hair. That is the time you should run to your parent's bedroom and hide under their bed.

Demyx jumped. His pocket was singing Justin Timberlake.

"Ax! Where the fuck are you? If you were gonna skip I wanted to be in it!" he yelled into the unsuspecting phone.

"Dem, Dem, Dem. I'm in the hospital. Got hit by a ice cream truck on the way to school." Demyx gasped. "Yeah, I can't really feel my legs but other wise, I'm all good."

"What hospital? I'm coming down right now!"

"How many times will I be able to get you with a lame excuse like that?"

"AXEL! This is not a good day so far! I probably would've believed anything…"

"Yea well I'm skipping with my friend Roxas. His brothers are in school today and he wants somebody to tell them he's skipping and not to worry or something like that."

"Demyx tell who now?"

"Cloud or Sora Strife. Cloud's a year above us and Sora's our grade."

"Okies will do. Good luck on your date!"

"Yeah, yeah love you."

"Love you too bye bye."

"By the way, Dem, you sound like a mom."

"AXEL!" Demyx slammed his cell closed again.

0o0o0o

"Who was that?" Roxas looked up from the bench when Axel came back from a phone call.

"My friend, Demyx. Wondering where I was. I think I might need to learn kung-fu he's so pissed." Axel waved it off. "C'mon, lets go get something to eat."

Roxas nodded. So far, Axel had taken him to the main streets in town and had shown him the best places for books, music, clothes, Destiny Islands had everything. Axel stopped in front of a pizza stand.

"Pick anything except the pepperoni. We think that Mario makes his own pepperoni in the back alley." He whispered and Roxas couldn't help but smile.

"Okay I'll just have a piece of cheese then." Axel ordered their pizzas and they sat down at a table in the sun. "I'm paying you back for this."

"No, my treat."

"Why?"

"Because you're new."

"Okay, sure I believe you." He bit into his pizza.

"Roxas!"

"Hnn?" he swallowed a big hunk of cheese and took another bite. Axel blinked.

"Never mind."

Roxas took another bite of his pizza. Axel's eyes match the grass… Wait. What?

0o0o0o

… I'm looking back and re-reading chapters and I've realized something. I made Demyx a lot like myself…. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa


	7. Easy to Talk to

◆7**◆ **Easy to talk to

"I would've never guessed you knew how to cook." Leon stared at the chocolate chip cookies coming out of the oven. To him they were the best smelling cookies he ever smelt.

"…" 

"Ah, how lovely Mr. Strife and Mr. Leonhart. I especially like your use of heart!" For indeed, the cookies were heart-shaped. Xemnas (or Mansex as some of the students had graciously dubbed him) was going around to all the tables.

Cloud cocked his head. "Is he obsessed?"

"You could say that. If you put anything to do with a heart in a project, you immediately get an A." Leon looked over to where Xemnas was scolding a pair of students about not burning scones because they were almighty or something like that.

"Leon, am I quiet?" Cloud asked from nowhere.

"How could I answer that? I've only known you a day."

"Well have I been quiet? I mean, that's why nobody ever talked to me in my old school. They said I was 'unsociable'." Cloud looked up at Leon who was about a head taller than him.

"Well, around me you've been quiet but Aerith said that you talked a lot to her and I saw how much you and your brothers talk…"

"Okay." Cloud rummaged through his bag until he found a sharpie and wrote on his hand in big, bold black letters.

"Talk?"

"A goal. Roxas taught me how to be organized. Actually, he taught me how to make these cookies too…" Cloud looked at the cookies briefly then back at Leon and smiled. "But really, I'm quiet around you?"

"I already answered this but, yes. You're relatively quiet around me." Leon blinked. What was he getting at?

"I wonder why…" Cloud spoke quietly, almost a whisper.

"Hmm?"

"It's just, you're so easy to talk to…"

Leon looked at Cloud who was looking out the window and he could've sworn that he saw a light pink creep onto his friend's face.

0o0o0o

"Are you sure he's in our grade?" Riku whined. He had been following Demyx around the deserted halls all day looking at the schedules posted outside the classrooms to find 'Sora Strife'.

"According to Axel, yes. You know this would go much faster if you actually helped." Demyx sighed as they passed yet another paper without the elusive name written on it.

"…" Riku walked a little further down the hall to another poster. "Found 'im." Demyx pranced over to him.

"Yay Bitch did something for once in his poor, pitiful, loveless life!" Demyx threw his arms around Riku's neck and kissed his cheek.

"Ah! Dem! Not in the hall!" Riku pushed him off. "And I am not 'loveless'. Remember? I now have a target."

"That brown spiky straight guy who you saw earlier?"

"Yes!" Riku slid down the wall and Demyx plopped down next to him. "So we're waiting for him? How the hell will we know who he is?"

"Good question…" Demyx scratched his head. "O! I know! We could stop every person who comes out and ask if they're Sora!"

"Why would they tell us if they're Sora?" Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Because I'm cute and you look like you could pummel them to dust. But mostly cause I'm cute!" He grabbed onto Riku's arm.

"Dem, ya gotta stop flirting with every male in the school if you want to settle on that Zexion guy."

"…" For once, Demyx had nothing to say and released Riku's arm as the bell rang. They both sprung up and stood on either sides of the door. The students started to spill out of the math class.

Riku grabbed a black haired kid's arm. "Sora?"

"No! Get offa me!" He pulled his arm away and scampered off looking quite frightened.

"Sora?" Demyx pulled a blonde girl out of the crowd.

"Demyx! I'm Rikku!" Demyx looked at her funny. "R-I-K-K-U, not that boy." She pointed at Riku. "O my god Demyx! You don't remember me?" Demyx gave her another look. "Ugg, boys." She threw her arms in the air and stormed off.

"Dem?" Riku raised an eyebrow.

"I have no idea so don't even start." Demyx looked into the classroom. Only two boys were left. One was Tidus; the infamous guy responsible for spray-painting the bleachers in the gym pink in elementary school and only getting caught because some nerd ragged on him. Then the other boy he was talking to was-

"Bitch!" Demyx ran over to Riku and whispered in his ear. "Tidus and the brown spiky kid you fell in love with are the only two in there! Maybe he's Roxas' brother!" Demyx was jumping up and down.

"…" Riku gulped. He was never good at introductions, especially when it was with your newest crush. "T-then should we go i-in?"

"Ohmygawd! Bitch stuttered! It's like…a freakin' miracle!" Demyx hugged him briefly. "And yes, we should go in. But, let me do the talking, Bitch. Later on, you'll thank me." At that, he dragged said Bitch into the classroom and over to Tidus and the brunette.

"Demyx! Long time no see. What's up man?" Tidus recognized Demyx immediately.

"Hey Ty, nothing much." He scratched the back of his head and turned to the brown one. "Who's this?"

"Hi, I'm Sora!" The brunette rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Sora? Sora! I'm Demyx and this here's Riku." He pulled Riku over to Sora. He smiled widely and Sora grinned back. "And we got a call from our best bud Axel and said he and Roxas were skipping and to tell you that."

Sora instantly froze and frowned. Demyx took a step back and Riku gaped at the quick change of emotion. "S-skipping?"

"Uh yeah…"

"..." Sora had a far away look in his eyes.

"Something wrong Sora?" Tidus looked down at his new friend.

"Yeah… The last time somebody I know skipped school, major badness came."

"Like?" Riku piped up.

Sora looked up at Riku. "No, he'd have to tell you, I couldn't."

"Who?" Riku pushed.

0o0o0o

"O my god, it's perfect." Roxas gaped up at a majestic tree as tall as the 20-story apartment building next to it. It was really, really tall.

"Perfect for what?" Axel looked up at the tree. Same as all the others in this park…

"For climbing!" Roxas looked back at Axel and smiled brightly. "Climbing trees always made me happy when I was little and I never really let go of the habit…"

Axel smiled and looked up at the big tree. He didn't understand how a tree of all things could bring happiness but then, people didn't understand how lighting matches could make you happy either.

"I would climb it but I can never get down unless someone catches me. W-would you catch me plleaaasse?" Roxas looked up at the taller redhead. Axel blinked. Roxas could be so cute.

"Sure if you want. But only once." Roxas was already running toward the tree. He quickly scaled the first few branches and was a good 6 stories high in minutes. Axel felt a pang of worry when Roxas stood at the edge of a branch. After about five minutes of standing there, he started to climb down until the first branch that was a good 20 feet off the ground.

"Are you sure you'll catch me?" He shouted down.

"Why would I let you fall?" Axel cocked his head and stretched out his arms. "C'mon."

"Ok but if you drop me, I'll never forget!" With that, Roxas slid off the branch and fell downwards, eyes closed.

Axel anxiously spread his arms out for the falling boy whom he had decided sometime during the day, he liked. After only a couple seconds Roxas collided with Axel's arms. Axel, having good reflexes immediately wrapped his arms around him and pulled him to his chest. Roxas was really light. Now he knew why Sora and Cloud had bugged him to eat!

Roxas slowly opened his eyes and turned his head up to look at Axel. He smiled broadly. "You caught me!" Axel grinned back.

"That I did." He unfortunately knew he had to let the boy go and did so slowly.

"Thank you."

"I really wouldn't have let you fall."

"I know but not just for that. For today." Axel peered down at Roxas but couldn't see his face.

"Well, you're welcome."

They walked in comfortable silence.

I really should be thanking you…

0o0o0o

"I'm coming!" Aerith hurried to her front door. She had been at the hospital, helping the patients with eating food. Her parents were away for the whole month- something about having a second honeymoon so Aerith had the whole house to herself. Another knock on the door and she swung it open to reveal Leon holding a bunch of books.

"Hey, got your homework." He smiled.

"O joy." She took the books. "Thank you and close the door behind you." He trailed her into the living room and plopped on the dark green couch.

"How was the hospital?"

"Well, I managed to get Murray to eat all of his string beans today. And, I even got Jamie to finish her chicken."

"Good."

"Anything at school?"

"Not really. Spent the day with Cloud." She perked up.

"And?"

"He can bake. Like really good. Xemnas gave us an A for his chocolate chip cookies."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Then he asked this weird question…"

"Go on." She pressed.

"It was like if I thought he was quiet. I didn't know what to say so I told him that around me he was because it's the truth. Then he gets out this permanent marker and writes 'talk' on his hand." Leon used his hands to show the quote.

"Okay…"

"But this is that part I don't get. He said 'I wonder why I'm so quiet around you because you're so easy to talk to'. I'm not sure if he meant me to hear it though…"

"…"

"But then I looked at him and I swear he was blushing…" Aerith looked up at her friend.

"And how do you feel about this?" She pressed.

"Jeez Dr. Phil."

"No but really."

"I really don't know…"

"You remember he's gay right? Well, he could be starting to like you."

Leon rubbed his forehead suddenly feeling a bit sickly. "What should I do if he does like me? I'm not gay!"

"I don't know…"

"Ok well I've got homework so I'm gonna go home."

"Bye."

"Bye." Leon walked to his car and hoped in. When he got to his house he felt sick so he went to bed instead of doing homework.

For some reason, a certain blond haunted his nightmares.

0o0o0o

eheh I reference Dr. Phil a little here and a lot in real life. For those who are unaware, he has or had a TV show and books and stuff where he talked about psychology and love troubles and things like that (I'm pretty sure)…

I'm not sure if I need this and I haven't had one yet but anyway:

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters in this story (except James) or anything referenced in this story. All I have is one of those big Axel figures, a Riku figure and a Sora figure. Unfortunately, the Sora figure is taller than the Riku one so it looks really bad if I make them do anything together…

Thanks if you review, it means a lot to me but please, no flames, leave them to Axel.


	8. I Can't Control It

◆**8◆ **I can't control it

About 5 weeks after the day that Roxas had skipped school with Axel and it was fast approaching Thanksgiving. Roxas began to like Axel and was even beginning to like him more than a friend. Although, he would never say this out loud to anyone. Everyday Axel had talked to Roxas and everyday, he liked the kid even more. Riku still hadn't been able to confront Sora without one of his friends there but sat with him at lunch most days. He brought Demyx and Axel along of course and Axel didn't seem to mind since Roxas was there. Demyx had talked to Zexion a couple more times in science class and had even managed to make him blush once or twice. Cloud and Leon kept being partners in Home Ec and continued to get As. Whenever Leon came into the room, Cloud felt something in his stomach and he didn't know what to do about it since Leon obviously wasn't into guys. Aerith continued to give support to the needy Cloud and lately, the even needier Leon and Yuffie, squeezing in space for her own personal time.

0o0o0o

"So we got you without your bodyguards today eh?" Seifer had Roxas cornered in the deserted, dead-end hallway by the janitor's closet. Rai was holding Roxas from behind so he couldn't run and Fuu was keeping lookout at the end of the hall.

"…"

"You're such a lamer!" Seifer pulled back a fist and slammed it into the wall next to Roxas' head, causing the blond to shut his eyes and wince. "Ha." Seifer pulled back his fist again and this time punched Roxas in the stomach. He would've curled up into a ball of painfulness if not being held up off of the ground by tall, tan and ugly.

To Roxas, it seemed to go on forever. Punch after punch. Mostly affecting his stomach but sometimes straying to his ribs and at least twice to his face. When the bell rang, Seifer searched Roxas' bag for munny then ordered Rai to drop the 'lamer' before somebody caught them.

Once released, Roxas curled up into a ball. He felt like he could barely breathe. He always had been easily hurt badly. After a few minutes he managed to find his cell phone and hit speed dial 8. Why hadn't Seifer taken his phone anyway? Maybe too much evidence…

"Hello Axel here." The familiar voice rang through the phone.

"A-a-axel." Roxas stuttered painfully using his remaining energy.

"Roxas? Roxas are you ok? Where are you?" Concern laced his words.

"Jan-Janitor." Roxas really couldn't talk.

"Janitor's closet? I'm coming!" Roxas sighed and closed his phone, curling up into a tight ball in the corner. He could faintly feel something warm and wet running down his face. He laid there for what seemed like eternity until he heard footsteps running then halting at the end of the hall.

"Roxas?" Axel looked around and gasped. He hurried over to the boy in the corner. He pulled Roxas out of his cocoon and looked at him. He had one eye open and one eye was closed and swelling. There were big bruises one his arms where Rai had held him and a large bruise over his left eye. There was a small gash above that eye that continued to dribble out blood. His lip was broken and bleeding as well. Axel furrowed his brow. "Roxas…?"

He opened his mouth but all he could get out were a couple broken syllables. It was then that he started to cry. Silently and not very much but he did. Axel frowned as he saw Roxas' arms. They looked even worse than his bloody face. He could easily make out five big, blue fingers on each. He pulled the boy into his arms and hugged him. Roxas stared wide-eyed and just stayed there in his friends' warm arms.

"A-axel." Roxas stuttered out and Axel pulled back to look at him. His eyes were closed. "I like Axel." Roxas fell limp.

Had he just heard correctly? Axel could've sworn Roxas had just said he liked him. He couldn't dwell on that thought though because he was pretty sure Roxas had just passed out. He hurriedly gathered up Roxas' belongings and swung his bag over his shoulder. Then he picked up the light, limp frame and carried him bridal style to the nurse's office.

0o0o0o

"He should be out of it soon and when that happens, get all the information about who did this to him because he might forget. Don't worry he'll be fine. Just some bruises." The nurse told Axel. They had Roxas in the sick bed and Axel had been given a chair. The nurse had fixed up Roxas' cut above his eye and had painkillers on the table for when he woke up.

Axel sighed as the nurse left the room. Now, he was really confused. Roxas had said he liked Axel right? As far as anybody had told him, Roxas was as straight as a stripper's pole. He didn't exactly hit Axel like a car guy either. (A/N: car has an axel get it? eheh…) If he had been straight before school, had Axel gotten to him so fast that he changed his sexual orientation within the school year?

Roxas mumbled something and turned his head towards Axel. He slowly opened his eyes but winced and closed his left eye. He looked around and saw Axel looking intently back at him. Roxas closed his eye and lightly smiled. He opened his eye again and tried to sit up.

On cue, Axel sprung up and pushed Roxas' shoulders back into the bed. "You need to just lay there for now." He smiled when Roxas looked back at him annoyed.

"What happened?" Roxas blinked.

"Well, somehow in your horrid state you managed to call me and I came and found you all beat up in the janitor's hallway. Then I carried you here and the nurse fixed you up and now you woke up." Axel frowned. "Roxas, who beat you up?"

"…"

"C'mon Roxas, who beat you up?" Axel pushed.

"He would only beat me up again if I got him in trouble…" Axel sighed. That was probably true.

"…What if I protect you?"

"What?"

"What if I protect you?" Axel looked at Roxas.

"You'd protect me?" Roxas looked back at Axel.

"Yeah…" Axel trailed off when Roxas closed his eyes, asleep again. He leaned in to make sure his chest was moving and he was alive. Roxas pushed himself up and latched onto Axel's neck. Taken aback, Axel just stared wide-eyed at the wall in front of him then relaxed and wrapped his arms around the leech.

"Thank you, Ax." He could hear the smile behind the quiet words as they let go and Roxas really did fall back asleep.

Axel looked down at the boy under the covers on the bed. He closed his eyes and let out what would be classified as a squeal.

0o0o0o

Axel was reading a magazine, still sitting in a chair in the sick room when the last bell rang and Roxas shot up.

"Wha- Where am I?" He looked around, confused. "O right… How long was I out?" His eye's swelling had gone down to its normal size and was now just a deep bluish color.

"All day." Axel smirked. "You mumble in your sleep."

"No! What did I say?" Roxas frowned.

"Something about Sora, lasagna and eyeliner…" He laughed.

"O I must've been remembering when Sora bought eyeliner and wrote on our lasagna dinner one night… That was a really weird day." Roxas smiled, remembering.

" He's a really weird kid."

"You have no idea." Roxas turned to Axel and frowned. "It was Seifer, Rai and Fuu."

"… Okay." Axel smiled. "School's over y' know."

"Really? I need to find my brothers." He hoped out of bed and grabbed his bag. "C'mon, can you help me?"

Axel stood up. "What are they going to do to you once they see you've been beaten up again? If I heard correctly, it's not the first time that this has happened." Axel frowned.

"Yea well I easily bruise if you haven't noticed." Roxas started to head out the door and Axel padded along after him.

When they got into the halls, they were all deserted so they hurried outside to find his brothers. They spotted them with Demyx, Riku, Aerith, Leon and Yuffie all sitting under the tree. Actually, Yuffie was hanging upside down from a low branch. She spotted them first and poked the top of Cloud's head.

"Cloudy, your brother looks funky." Cloud turned and when he saw Roxas, he sprung up and ran over to him.

"Roxas! What happened?" Cloud grabbed his brother's shoulders, completely ignoring Axel standing next to him.

"Roxas? Roxas?" Sora shot up and ran over to his twin. Upon Sora's absence, Riku too sat up. Everybody looked over with interest at the family and an awkward Axel.

"Guys, I'm fine." He shook off his brother's hands and Cloud and Sora shot him concerned looks. "Jeez, really. I'm fine! Axel and the nurse took care of me!" On cue, Cloud and Sora glared at Axel who backed a couple steps away. "Guys stop! He didn't do any of this!" Axel looked back at Roxas.

"Then who did Rox?" Cloud shot back.

"Don't call me Rox! And I'm not telling because you'll just go and hurt them!" He glared back at Cloud. The two brothers looked like they could tear each other apart.

"God! Just tell me who the fuck did this to you!" Cloud spat back.

"Why the hell should I? All that you'd be able to do is go and punch their face in and then be pummeled by their friends!" Roxas was practically screaming.

"Stop it! Both of you! My God! Roxas is hurt and you just yell at him! Stop it!" Sora shouted standing between the two. By now, the bystanders by the tree were all gaping at the sudden outbursts of the so far peaceful family. Yuffie had even fallen out of her tree and was curled up between Leon and Aerith.

"…" Sora looked between the two and sighed.

"I-im Sorry Roxas…" Cloud stuttered out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay I guess." He frowned. "I'll see you at home." He turned, glanced at Axel and ran toward home.

Cloud and Axel padded over to their friends and sat down with people in between them. Cloud looked warily at the redhead while Axel just sat next to Demyx, looking a bit anxious. Sora just sat down in the grass where Roxas had left, head in his hands looking at the ground in front of him.

"Y' know Bitch," Demyx whispered at Riku. "This would be an ideal time to get acquainted with little Sora over there." He elbowed him in the ribs. Riku looked over at Sora who was looking quite sad. He nodded and Demyx and Axel watched him saunter over to the brunette.

Said brunette looked up when Riku stood over him looking down.

"Riku?" Riku had never come over to him alone before and now of all times.

"Can I sit?"

"Sure."

Riku plopped down next to Sora and they watched as Cloud went after his brother with Leon, Aerith and Yuffie in tow. Riku glanced at Sora whom he still liked very much although he hadn't really had a good conversation with him yet.

"You okay Sora?" He did look very depressed.

"Y-yea, I'm fine…" Sora looked at Riku. "Why?"

"I've never seen you this way before- I mean, this sad."

"…" Sora blinked and looked Riku in the eye. "It's just, my brothers never fought like this before. I mean of course we've fought before but it was always over something like the last cookie or the TV remote…"

"…"

"And Roxas. Roxas always gets beaten up. Always! Whenever it happens, Cloud gets so angry because he can't do anything about it. And I'm always just there, trying to calm down Cloud but also trying to comfort Roxas at the same time and in the process at least one of them gets really depressed and our parents are never there to help…"

Riku didn't know what to do. Here he was, all alone while Sora spilled his life story all over the ground. He wasn't exactly a counselor. Hell, the last time somebody did this in front of him, he was the one who ended up crying.

"Riku, I'm sleepy. It's been a really long day…" Out of the blue Sora fell asleep, leaning over slowly to his left and landed against Riku's shoulder.

Riku stared at the boy resting on him. What the hell was going on? He liked it and all but Sora wasn't gay. He talked to Tidus all the time about how pretty some of the girls like Kairi were! Sure, Riku thought Kairi was pretty as well but Sora talked about her like he was deeply in love with the girl.

Sora mumbled something in his sleep and buried his head deeper into Riku's shoulder. When Axel and Demyx looked over and saw this, they sauntered over, smirking.

"Aww isn't that sweet? Bitch got to the little guy after all!" Demyx kneeled down next to Riku and smiled brightly. Axel sat down in front of Riku cross-legged. He looked thoughtfully at Sora.

"You know, he and his twin really aren't all that different…" He blinked and looked at the silver-haired teen.

"What does that mean?" Riku looked down at Sora who was apparently a deep sleeper.

"Roxas. When I found him beaten up in the hallway, he said he liked me. Of course, he passed out right after that, but that's what I heard. Then, when he woke up in the nurse's office, he hugged me…" Demyx and Riku looked at him silently. "I thought they were straight but now I don't know…"

"You like him, don't you?" Demyx pressed.

"Yeah, ever since that day he skipped school with me."

"C-cloud dnnt hurn soxass nnuuu…" All three stared at Sora while he latched onto the closest thing, which happened to be Riku's arm, wrapping his arms and legs around the unsuspecting limb.

"Bitch you need to somehow control your leech or find bigger pants." Demyx pointed at Riku's crotch and Axel snickered.

"Fuck off, I can't control it." Riku crossed his legs, blushing.

1 HOUR LATER – sunset

Demyx spotted Roxas coming closer to them. "Ax, Roxas is coming." He kicked Axel who was laying down in the grass. He promptly sat up, his legs outstretched in front of him, and looked towards Roxas.

Sora was still attached to Riku who had bugged Axel and Demyx to stay with him until he woke up. Axel had unwillingly given up his jacket so he could cover up his hard-on.

Roxas stopped when he got in front of Riku, looking awkwardly down at him and his little brother. "Hey."

"Hey. I'm sorry he fell asleep and I didn't want to wake him up."

"No, I don't really care if he spent the whole night out here but Cloud wants him home because our parents will be visiting next weekend and we didn't exactly keep the house clean." He glanced at Sora. "If I'm not home in 10 minutes he'll come out here and I have a feeling he doesn't exactly like you guys. 'Specialy Axel." His eyes darted to Axel then back to Riku and Sora.

"Ok." Riku shook his arm to get Sora to wake up but he wouldn't wake up. "Umm how exactly do you wake him up?" Roxas smirked.

He bent over so he was right next to Sora's ear. "So-ra. 7 daysss." He hissed.

Sora let go of Riku instantly and leapt up looking around. When he spotted Roxas, he ran up to him and grabbed him. "Roxas! She's coming for me! She's coming for me!"

"Sora's least favorite movie. Horrors really get to him. He actually saw that movie three years ago."

"It's not a movie! She's coming for all of us!" Sora was shouting.

"Yes, Sora, she's coming for all of us. And the gnomes in Mrs. Pickleberry's yard are telepathic."

"But they are!" With that, Roxas waved to the three teens on the grass, smiled at Axel and dragged Sora towards home.

"Ok I thought I was weird…" Demyx stared after the retreating twins.

"Well, that made somebody happy." Riku laughed at Axel. "Jeez Ax, all he did was smile at you!"

Said redhead just kept on smiling.

0o0o0o

Ahahahaha! The evil return of Seifer and gang! D: I know, I made him really, really mean but hey, a bully's gotta be a bully right?

FYI, I seriously couldn't walk around in the house when it was dark, go in the bathroom, answer the phone or sleep in complete darkness for at least a week after the first time I saw The Ring. Sad, I know, but now I can see it. I laughed at it last time.

Sorry for the random updates, I have a lot of the chapters already written and so I'm trying to update every weekend… Last week I was gone snowboarding though so I forgot.

No!! I'm from Chicago (although I don't live there currently) and I was cheering for our Bears to win the Super Bowl!!! TTTT

-


	9. So Happy Together

◆**9◆ **So Happy Together

"Wow. The year's gone fast hasn't it?" Sora looked at the calendar. It was already November 15th and the family had been in Destiny Islands for almost 4 months.

Although they had had their difficulties (like Roxas' continuous bully issues and their almost constant lack of parents), they had survived. For the most part, they had fallen in love with their home. The Strife family would be together again later this day after about two weeks absence.

"When exactly are they supposed to be home?" Roxas grabbed his Poptart as it flew out of the toaster. He and Axel had gotten closer as friends over the past month. Especially since Axel managed to switch around some of his classes to be more with Roxas. He had said that he'd protect him right? After the first Seifer incident, Roxas had been beaten up twice more until Axel started to be with him almost all day. Roxas didn't mind one bit. He even accepted the fact that he might actually like guys but, of course, just hadn't admitted it anybody yet.

"Any time now." Cloud heavily buttered some toast and ate it. He had started to like Leon more and more. He never confessed this to anyone though, not even Aerith. Still keeping everyone except Aerith, Leon and Yuffie in the dark about his sexuality, he loved it when Leon talked to him. Cloud was always there for his brothers- or so he thought. They still had so many secrets they never told him.

"I can't wait!" Sora talked through a mouthful of cold pizza from last night's dinner. Tidus had introduced him to all his friends like Selphie, Wakka, Namine and Kairi. He admitted to Sora that he really liked Selphie but he couldn't get up his courage to ask her out. Sora, on the other hand, was starting to like Kairi and he really did like her but… There was Riku. He was so much more comfortable around Riku than anybody else other than his brothers. That made him really confused sometimes.

A little while later, the doorbell rang. The three boys ran to the door and Cloud made it there first. He wrenched it open and found his mother there with a big grin on her face. She was wearing a light blue blouse with a black, knee-length skirt. Work-wear. When she saw Cloud she smiled even brighter and hugged him warmly. Sora and Roxas made it to the door and hugged their mom at the same time. Their father walked up the stairs and joined in the big hug.

"I missed you guys so much!" Their mom's long brown hair shook when she laughed.

"I'm so happy to see you guys again!" Their dad walked into the house and tossed their luggage onto the couch. "I see you kept the fort up. Good job." He looked around.

"Tonight, I'm going to make a big dinner so I hope you don't have plans!" She pulled Sora onto her lap in the big recliner. "But first, what's new?"

That started a long night of talking and just enjoying each other's company. They had a delicious dinner with lasagna and bread and eventually Sora and Roxas fell asleep with their mom in the big blue recliner while Cloud and their dad went upstairs to sleep in their own beds. Everyone had good dreams and all had plans for the next day because their parents had conveniently left out the date when they had to leave again for another long business trip.

0o0o0o

"Roxas! You've been really quiet this morning. Let's go for a walk. There's this awesome old church I found when I was here last time and I think you'll like it." Tifa wrapped her arms around her son's shoulders. He looked up at her.

"Ok, I do think that I could use the fresh air."

"Yes! You do! You're all emo and plus it's a Saturday!"

"You know what emo means mom?"

"Sora filled me in last night after you fell asleep." She smiled.

"Of course he did." He grabbed his coat. "Ok let's go then." He smiled as his mom pulled him out of the house and down the sidewalk. In Destiny Islands the wintry season didn't include snow. If anything, they got some really cold mornings and nights and chilly breeze during the day. All the citizens really needed was a jacket and sometimes maybe a scarf or hat.

They walked in comfortable silence until Tifa grabbed Roxas' hand and pulled him down a skinny alley.

"Mom where are we going?" Roxas tried to keep the dust and grime off of his face.

"Just a little farther sweetie, you'll love it!" She pulled his past a stray calico cat that mewed at Roxas. And indeed, she soon pulled Roxas through the end of the long alley and into the bright sun. They were on the very edge of town, facing a wild part of the ocean but before that was a gorgeous wooden church that looked to be as old as the island itself.

"Wow, it's beautiful mom." Roxas gaped at the broken stained glass windows and the slightly caved in roof.

"Isn't it though?" Tifa pulled him up the creaky steps and into the church. They passed many dark pews and stopped near the center under a large, broken chandelier. "I love this place so much. It's so old and quiet and nobody really comes here." She plopped down and pulled Roxas down with her.

"I really missed you mom." She smiled widely.

"So have I! I love you guys so much and I thought about you everyday." She pulled Roxas into her lap and hugged him. "I'm going to try and be home more ok?"

They sat in content silence together until something moved.

0o0o0o

duh duh duh duuuunnnn

gotta love that song. I first heard it a long time ago on a commercial for Mario of Yoshi or something. I thought it was a Ninetendo song for a long time.. eheh that was embarrassing

Yosh! Let the angsting begin!

Weeeepop thanks for the reviews! They mean a lot to me!! 3 3 3 chuu

-


	10. Plate Tectonics

◆**10◆ **plate tectonics

The ground shook and caused the whole place to shake.

"Roxas do you get earthquakes here?" Tifa looked at the shaking windowpanes.

"N-never before…" Roxas clung to his mother even tighter as everything shook harder.

"It's ok Roxas! As long as I'm here, I won't let anything hurt you." She smiled down at him and he managed to smile back for a second until his mom looked up and horror filled her eyes. He frowned.

"Mom? Whataaaaa-" Tifa threw her son with surprising strength towards the door to the church but he didn't make it far before the roof collapsed, bringing the chandelier down with it. Roxas quickly jumped up before the building could completely come down and tried to get to his mom but was crushed by some falling beams and what felt like a million tiny daggers. He managed to see the blue, cloudless sky before a board fell burying most of him. All he could remember was how pretty it was before he passed out.

0o0o0o

"O great, the whole building collapsed!" A hairless priest stepped into the ruble of the old church. He pawed thorough some piles of debris looking for anything salvageable from the destroyed church.

He was going through one rather large pile when he saw an arm. He stared wide-eyed at the motionless, bloody arm and when he snapped out of it, he pulled a red cell phone from his pocket. "Hello? Emergency! I found at least one person buried here in the old church. I don't know if they're alive or not but the whole building has collapsed and there might be more than one person. Yeah ok I'll wait here but hurry!" He shut his phone and tried to unbury the body. He pushed a rather large plank of wood off of the pile and uncovered a face. It was just a boy! Not even twenty! His whole face was bloody and the arm was as well. He dug more through the pile and was able to get all the wood off of him. Not wanting to hurt him, he didn't move him anywhere. His whole body was covered in red. He saw that a window must've shattered down on the blond boy. That would have hurt a lot.

He looked up when he heard sirens and waved them over. They pulled up and quickly jumped out with a stretcher. A fire truck screamed in and some fire fighters hopped out of the truck just afterward.

The priest pointed out the blond boy and the workers took him back to the ambulance in the stretcher quickly. "There might be more people here- why would he be here alone?"

"Okay sir we'll look for other people. Will you please step over towards the truck? Thank you."

The priest just looked on while the workers did their work.

0o0o0o

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything in this story except the plot (…) and James (Roxas' Dad). dies

okay I know, short chapter. I also know how I'll make it up next chapter.

And don't worry, within all the drama and angst I have put in some lighter things.

Thank you so much for the reviews! When I say that they all mean something to me, it's true. It really is. chuu


	11. Remember? I Bruise Easily

◆**11◆ **Remember? I bruise easily

"Hello Strife house." Sora smiled through the phone.

"Hello? This is the Destiny Island hospital." The nasally voice said to Sora.

"Hospital?" Sora began to worry. "Wait talk to my big brother." He called Cloud and gave him the phone. "It's the hospital." Cloud blinked.

"H-hello?" He stuttered.

"Yes well we found someone by the name of 'Roxas Strife' and another person by the name of 'Tifa Strife' in a collapsed building…" Cloud sat down, eyes blank. "Well, I don't want to have to talk to you over the phone about this so could you come down to the hospital?"

It took a few seconds for the words to register. "O-of course! We'll be down soon!" Cloud slipped the phone back into its holder.

"Cloud? Cloud! What's wrong?" Sora jumped back into the room.

"Get dad and your coat Sor. We have to go to the hospital."

0o0o0o

Sora ran to the door and pushed it open. Cloud came in after him and their father after that. Roxas lay there in a bed with tubes in his arms and a respirator connected to his mouth. There was a bloody bandage wrapped around his forehead and a few stitched up cuts on his face. A leg and an arm were in casts while the others had a lot of bandages covering them. The monitor showed he had a steady heartbeat but nonetheless, he looked like hell.

Sora crept over to the edge of the bed and stroked Roxas' cheek. "Roxas? … Brother?" When he didn't respond, he fell into a chair by the bed. The doctors said he hadn't woken up during the whole time they'd had him there but that didn't mean he wouldn't get better. Cloud and his father stepped up to the bed. Their dad, James, stared blankly at his son and Cloud just sat down in the chair next to Sora's. He hated the smell of hospitals.

"Excuse me, doctor?" James stopped a lady in a white coat as she passed the room. "Where is Tifa Strife?"

She fully turned to him and frowned. "I'm sorry to tell you this sir but when they found her, she was already dead. I really am sorry but your son does have a high recovery expectation." She turned heel and left before he asked her more questions.

James turned to Sora and Cloud with lost eyes. "She's gone." And he left, just like that, to go wherever he was going to go.

Cloud choked back some tears and looked over to Sora. He didn't look like he was about to cry so Cloud decided he had to do something. Standing up, he walked to the front desk and asked for Roxas' belongings. He dug his cell phone out of the plastic bag and searched it for phone numbers. He found Axel's and called him.

"Hey Roxas what's up?" Axel smiled through the phone.

"Axel, it's Cloud."

"O hey Cloud… Not to piss you off but why do you have Roxas' phone?"

"Axel I'm at the hospital. They found him in a collapsed building with our mom." Axel sat down.

"…And?" Axel frowned.

"Well, our mom… she d-died and Roxas… he's really bad. He's still unconscious but can you do something?"

"What?" His frown deepened.

"Come here. I can tell he would want you here, with him. Whenever you come into the room or even into our conversation, he always brightens. Axel, whether you like it or not, I think Roxas likes you."

"How can you tell? And why would you tell me this? I thought you didn't like me."

"Keep a secret Axel ok? I can tell because I'm…gay. That's how I can tell. And it doesn't matter if I like you if Roxas does."

"…Well, since you're confessing your life over the phone, I'm gay too…"

"Ok well if you want to come here you can come. I'm almost worried more about Sora though because he's practically in a coma himself. He won't respond to me. One more thing, can you call Aerith please? I don't have her number and I need somebody here. Dad bailed when he found out mom was g-gone."

"Sure Cloud. Go sit down ok? You don't sound good. Bye."

"Bye Axel." He walked back into the hospital room and following the redhead's advice, sat in a chair by the bed. Sora was still there, staring at Roxas, frozen in place. "Sor…?" He didn't respond. "Sora he'll be alright! And I'm sure mom was happy when she d-died…" He trailed off and sunk back into the chair, choking back more tears. Of all the bad things that could've happened, why did this happen? How?

0o0o0o

Someone knocked on the door after a little while and Axel walked in slowly with Riku and Demyx following. Cloud looked up at the trio, smiled briefly but then frowned.

"They said he'd be ok soon…" Cloud choked out the words and walked out into the hallway with three pairs of eyes following his retreat. He stood with his head against the opposite wall and closed his eyes.

"Roxas?" Axel crept up to the side of the bed and touched his cast-less hand. When he didn't move, he pulled a stool out from under the bed and sat down next to him. "Roxy…"

Riku looked around the room. Axel said that Cloud said that Sora was really handling this badly. He didn't like hospitals, all those crying people and the sick people and the old people and the dead people. He didn't even want to look at Roxas: he could tell it was bad by the way that Axel was being all depressed. He spotted Sora sitting rigidly in a chair, staring at the bed. Sora was so pale it wasn't even funny to make a ghost joke. He had been told that he wasn't responding to anything. Not even Cloud. Riku walked over to Sora and sat in the large chair with him.

"Sora?" He didn't budge. "Sora? It's me, Riku. Sora?" He rubbed the brunette's shoulders and climbed fully onto the chair. Pulling Sora into his lap, he hugged him. And Sora blinked.

"R-riku?" Sora looked up at Riku.

"Hey." Riku smiled down at him and pulled him closer.

"Riku's here…" Sora smiled and buried his head in Riku's chest and wrapped his arms around him. The silver-haired teen couldn't help but feel himself blushing at the contact. He looked down at the brunette whom had just fallen asleep again on him. He sighed Sora was really confusing.

Demyx sat down awkwardly in the empty chair. Axel was all depressing and he kind of had some sort of power to make the other people in the room pick up his emotions. He glanced at Riku and Sora. He really wanted to have somebody to hug that would hug him back like that. Lately he'd been feeling really down. He didn't show it of course- his job was to keep people happy. But Axel and especially Riku hadn't been paying much attention to him. His two best friends had their lives preoccupied with love to notice him anymore. He felt stupid, thinking so selfishly, but it was the truth. He sighed and closed his eyes, sinking into the chair.

0o0o0o

Cloud was having trouble. Axel and those guys had already been there about an hour and he'd been standing there, facing the wall with his forehead pressed against it in the hallway for at least that long. He was trying to hold back tears because if he cried and Sora saw, he'd really be worried and Sora wasn't so good with handling big situations like this. He didn't even know where dad was and to tell the truth, he didn't even care all that much. He'd survived many nights without daddy-dearest there so this shouldn't be any different. But, he wanted him here for Sora. He heard footsteps at the end of the white hallway. They were coming towards him.

"Cloud?" Aerith maybe? He didn't look up or speak. "Cloud, are you okay?" A concerned hand on his shoulder turned him to face her. She looked sad and maybe a bit worried? She hugged him when she saw the horribly sad and distraught face on her friend. Cloud just buried his head in her shoulder and hugged her back. He started to cry a bit. She just rubbed his back and they stood there for a while until he was able to look her in the eye.

"Thanks for coming Aerith. Could you take me somewhere? Anywhere, just out of the hospital…" He frowned.

"Sure Cloud, anywhere." She gave a reassuring smile and they walked out of the hospital to Aerith's car and drove off.

0o0o0o

Roxas blinked his eyes open. Where was he? He opened his eyes fully and realized he was in a dark hospital room. There were a bunch of tubes in his arms and bandages everywhere. His eyesight was a bit blurry and he had a massive headache. He felt something in his chest with every painful breath. His leg had this pounding pain shooting through it and his throat felt dry and funny from a tube in it. Demyx was asleep in a chair by the door. Sora was curled up with Riku in the chair next to him, both apparently asleep as well. Wait? Sora was sleeping on Riku?

Then he noticed Axel asleep with his head on the bed and he couldn't help but smile. He moved his cast-less left arm and his knuckles lingered on the redhead's dark teardrop tattoo under his eye.

Axel blinked his eyes a couple times and then noticed the hand. He instantly sat up and looked at Roxas, hopeful. The blond boy smiled weakly around the tube in his mouth again, eyes half closed. Axel grinned brightly and sat up over the bed. "You decided to grace us with your presence finally I see." He smirked. Roxas furrowed his brow and pointed to a piece of paper above his head. "What?" Roxas wrote on the bed with an imaginary pen. "O, you want to write something?" He nodded slightly and Axel rummaged through Demyx's bag until he found a notepad and pen.

Roxas thankfully took them and wrote 'MOM?' He looked at Axel hopefully but he just frowned back. "She didn't make it." Roxas stared wide-eyed at him, shock and horror. "I'm sorry Rox but they found her already…like that…"

Roxas turned his head and looked up at the ceiling. All he could remember from what happened was his mom throwing him away from where the chandelier was. She saved him but Tifa ended up dying in the process! His eyes filled up with tears. They rolled down his cheeks and he made a sort of choky noise around the tube. "…Roxy…" Axel hugged him the best he could and Roxas looped his good arm around his chest. It was too awkward and since Roxas just kept on crying, Axel climbed into the bed next to him, cross-legged. He pulled Roxas into his lap as much as he could and held him.

The blond boy looked up through tears and the redhead looked down at him. He gave a little smile. "Can I sit?" Roxas smiled weakly and wiped some tears off his cheeks. Pain shot through his head when he tilted his face. He winced and gingerly touched the red bandage on his forehead. Axel frowned. "Does it hurt?" Roxas just kept his eyes closed and nodded weakly. "I'm sorry this happened to you, Rox."

0o0o0o

I making it a tattoo. Some people think they're scars and some people think they're birthmarks but I'm making them tattoos. Axel's tattoos of course.

I know I should describe what people look like more but I describe James somewhere in the future, I just can't remember what chapter I did it in right now.

I know how open I make people sometimes (like Cloud just going out and telling Axel about his gayness and visa versa) but I still like my fic.

sigh as you may or may not recall, I mentioned that I made Demyx after myself. And yes, I feel like it's my job to keep people happy and spirits high. At the moment though, I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing but I am a master at hiding my emotions.

On a completely different subject, does anybody know where to get a good jacket for cosplaying Reno? I'm growing out my Mohawk (good luck with that) so I don't need a wig (although I have one if I do) and I have the white shirt but I need to know where to get a similar jacket. For some reason, my parents did not bring the sewing machine to Japan with us so I have no way to make it by hand… Help??

I know this AN is already long but if you're into shōnen-ai / yaoi anime, you should watch Loveless, Ai no Kusabi (yaoi) and Sukisho. Those are some of the better ones I've found- Loveless being at the top of my list and Sukisho is second.

No flames please!


	12. YOU HIPPIE

◆**12◆ **YOU HIPPIE

For the next week Axel visited Roxas in the hospital nearly everyday after school. Sometimes Riku came as well but not as much. Aerith came every other day since she volunteered at the hospital then anyway. Cloud went home and brought some clothes for Sora and himself and they slept in the chairs in the hospital room. James hadn't come back to the hospital yet but there were dirty dishes and a couple beer bottles at home so Cloud knew he had been there recently. Roxas had continued to get better and a doctor had taken out most of the stitches. He was still chained to the respirator and an IV, and his arm and leg were still in casts. He still had an awkward hospital gown on but luckily, the Destiny Island's hospital's gowns didn't have the flashy ass gaps in the back so it was really just a big, light purple, unfashionable ndress. Every once in a while he'd get a massive headache and it still hurt to breathe sometimes because of his broken ribs, but otherwise, he was feeling much better. Axel seemed to keep his spirits up and since he had to write anything out on paper whenever he wanted to talk, his handwriting had improved – at least, according to Sora it had.

A creepy doctor in a long white coat came in. "Hello, Roxas?" Roxas nodded. "I am Dr. Vexen and I have been keeping track of your charts." He looked up from his clipboard. "Would you like to get that tube out of your throat?" Roxas nodded frantically and Sora giggled. Cloud walked up next to Dr. Vexen.

"Are you sure that it's okay to take out now?" Cloud ignored Roxas' muffled cries and faced Dr. Vexen.

"Positive." He walked so that he was bending over Roxas' face. "Now, I must warn you that it will be very uncomfortable." Roxas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, so take a really big breath in and on three, blow it out really hard through your mouth. Got it?" Roxas nodded and Dr. Vexen grabbed the tube. "Okay in. One. Two. Three." Roxas let it out and Dr. Vexen pulled out the long throat tube. Hacking, he spluttered up some spit.

"Don't try to talk yet, your throat has to get used to not having the tube there. I'll get you some ice cubes." Dr. Vexen left the room with Roxas coughing in the bed.

"Roxas, breathe! In, out, in out." Sora jumped up from his chair.

"Sora calm down. He's fine." Cloud patted his brother's head and turned to Roxas. "You're fine right?" He added seriously.

"…"

"O right, you still can't talk yet." Cloud smirked. "I might be able to get used to this…" Roxas attempted to shout at him but no sound came out.

Dr. Vexen strolled in with a glass of ice cubes and handed it to Roxas. "Okay, pop one in your mouth and keep it there until it melts. Then put another in. That'll get you feeling better. I'll be back in about an hour to check up on you." He turned and sauntered out of the hospital room, long, blond, greasy hair flowing after him.

Roxas dumped the whole glass of ice cubes into his mouth. He looked like a freaky human-chipmunk. Cloud and Sora gaped at him and the hospital room door opened again. Axel walked in with Riku behind him and Demyx bouncing in behind them. He bumped into Riku's back when he stopped.

"Bitch! You tell somebody when you're o!" He blinked at Roxas. "O no! Roxas you haven't gotten better but you've gotten worse!" He threw his hands in the air and Roxas looked at him angrily.

"What happened to Roxas?" Axel turned to Cloud.

"They took out the throat tube and he was supposed to eat some ice cubes to feel better but he ate them all at once…" Roxas crossed his arms as much as he could from his sitting position and glared at his brother. "Sorry Rox, but he did say one at a time." Roxas flipped him off and quickly wrote 'DON'T CALL ME ROX YOU HIPPIE'. "Aww be nice Roxas!" Cloud pouted. Sora fell back into his chair, laughing madly.

Axel started to laugh and then so did Demyx and Riku and even Cloud cracked a smile. Roxas made an odd sound and covered his eyes with his cast-less hand.

0o0o0o

About an hour later, Dr. Vexen came in and took the glass back. The ice had long gone and Roxas had managed to stammer out a few words. He didn't mind that he couldn't talk much yet, he was just happy to finally have that machine attached to his mouth. Axel pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket.

"Cards anyone?" He tossed the deck on the bed.

"Cards!" Demyx dragged his stool over next to the bed, across from Axel. "Let's play strip poker!"

"Let's not and say we did." Riku pulled two more stools around the bed and plopped himself ion one. Sora did the same.

"Bitch! You always liked strip poker!" Demyx whined.

"Not when this is a hospital with security cameras and doctors running in and out every second."

"That would be awkward."

"Most definitely." Axel opened the box. "What to play now?"

"Sorry I don't know many card games. Roxas, do you know any?" Sora looked at Roxas. "Jeez Roxas! You always fall asleep at weird times! This is why you never sleep through the night!" He slapped Roxas' cast. Roxas just mumbled something unintelligible. The four teens smiled at him.

0o0o0o

I've been watching way too many ER re-runs.

Anyone else ever think that? I mean, if I was to hear the name 'Cloud' and I didn't know about the one from FF7, I would immediately think hippie. Sorry for the stereo-typing but that's what I would think.

You know who you are if you helped me with my Reno cosplay and I thank you very muchly. :) :)

Reviews are highly appreciated but flames are not.

…Unless they're Axel flames- then I luve them.


	13. Those Pretty Bastards

◆**13◆ **Those Pretty Bastards

Later that week, Roxas said he could manage during the daytime by himself (meaning not becoming clinically depressed at the loneliness) so that Cloud and Sora could go back to school. They brought his homework and Roxas figured out a way to write complete sentences with his left hand. He was a rightie after all. Axel snuck in outside food like chips and some soft drinks every once in a while since Roxas could eat food again without a tube and hospital food wasn't exactly tasty.

Then, three excruciatingly long weeks after the building collapse, Dr. Vexen let Roxas leave the hospital with a pair of crutches. It was really hard to handle since he still had a broken arm but after surviving a building collapse, he could get through it. James came back once to the hospital to pay the bill when they released Roxas. He hadn't said much except that he'd be away a lot.

"Please Roxas, get in the car." Axel begged from the driver's seat of his car. Roxas was hobbling to school and Axel was driving next to him.

"No, I can walk." He said again.

"Roxas! You're still recovering! Just get in the car and I'll drive you!" Axel was shouting now.

"I'm fine Axel!" Roxas sped up his hobbling.

"Get in the car!" Axel angrily shouted loud enough for an eighty-year-old couple to look at the car warily and back away. Roxas smiled at them and ignored the redhead. "God you're so stubborn." Axel sped ahead and parked, idling near the curb. He hopped out and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk a few paces in front of Roxas and crossed his arms.

Roxas tried to go around him but Axel just grabbed his crutches and caught him before he could fall. "Axel gimme back my crutches!" Axel just tossed them into the back of his truck. "Axel!" Said redhead scooped up Roxas and carried the lightweight to his truck. Roxas pounded on his chest. "Axel I can walk perfectly fine!" Axel ignored it and quickly opened the side door. He plopped Roxas into the seat and slammed the door behind him. Before Roxas could open the door to get out, Axel ran to his side of the truck, got in and locked the doors. "…" Roxas crossed his arms and sulked and Axel pulled out of the parking place.

Axel smirked. "You are so stubborn sometimes Rox." He ruffled Roxas' hair. He lightened up and even smiled at Axel.

"Thanks Ax."

"For what?"

"For caring," His smile grew. "And being so stubborn yourself." Roxas smirked.

"Roxy, how could I _not_ care?" Roxas blinked. "Because… I-I think I like you. No. I do like you. More than just friends. I have ever since that first day you skipped school with me but I never got up enough courage to tell you. I thought… I thought you wouldn't like it…" He frowned and looked at Roxas but he was looking out the window. Axel sighed and turned back to look out the windshield.

"Ax, don't frown. You don't look half as nice when you frown." Roxas turned to face Axel.

"…"

"Really! Don't frown because… because I like you too…" Axel looked up at Roxas, hopeful. "Really, I do. But I guess I had the same fears of rejection so I never told you." Axel smiled and ruffled Roxas hair and he grinned back.

They pulled into the school parking lot and Axel jumped out. Roxas opened his door and tried to get out but Axel stopped him and picked him up. He grabbed the crutches out of the pickup in the back with his other hand. "Good thing you're so light."

"Good thing you're still so stubborn." Roxas poked Axel's nose.

"Look who's talking." The redhead scrunched his nose and put Roxas down on the curb with his crutches. "You know I'm not going to let you walk home right?" Axel grabbed his bag before he could protest. "You also know that I'm not going to let you carry your bag at all this week right?" He smirked and looked down at Roxas.

"You'll get your way for now pretty boy." Roxas smirked back.

"What is that supposed mean?"

"Ha, wouldn't you like to know." They walked into the school building.

"I bet you don't even know yourself Rox." Roxas blinked.

"Maybe I do, and maybe, I don't."

"You don't"

"…" Axel snickered at which Roxas hit his shin with a crutch.

They got to class just as the late bell rang. Roxas was already being bombarded with so many "Are you ok?" and "Let me help with that!" and "We missed you so much!" that all he wanted to do was crawl under a rock. Even if he could find a large enough rock on Destiny Island, it was only the first class of the day and Cloud probably would kill him if he skipped school again. Especially right after such a long, school-less month. Luckily, he got to sit out during P.E. and instead was entertained by Sora spiking the ball right into Riku's face during volleyball with Cid screaming commands about how to hit the ball correctly. He didn't know that Sora could run so fast- or Riku for that matter. He made it to lunch but decided to pass on the sandwich-like-thing and instead bought some chips from a vending machine. Cloud walked in and sat down next to Leon, across from Roxas.

"Here." He handed Roxas a white envelope. "I found yesterday's mail in my school bag and that was addressed to you. It must've fallen in somehow. I think it might be from Hayner…"

The shorter blond tore open the letter that was sent from Twilight Town. He instantly smiled when he saw whom it was from and then when he read the letter, his smile only grew. "Hayner, Ollette and Pence are coming for Christmas! They said they might drag along some other guys too. Like Vincent," Cloud froze in mid chew. Leon, being quite the observer, noticed immediately. "Since he's Pence's older brother and their parents won't let them go alone and all." Roxas looked up to Cloud, all excited. "This is so great! Isn't it Cloud?"

"Excuse me." Cloud spluttered out, hopping up from his seat and striding out the cafeteria.

"Cloud?" Roxas started to get up and go after him but Axel stopped him and pulled him back into his seat. "But I need to find out what's going on!" Roxas fumed.

"No, I'll go." Axel started to stand but Leon stopped him.

"He hates you, remember? I'll go. Don't let Yuffie eat my lasagna."

"I thought it was a sandwich… Demyx poked his food with a toothpick and flinched away when the toothpick bounced off of whatever it was.

"It's not a sandwich!" Riku spluttered. "It's meatloaf."

"Then what's with all the bread in it?" Roxas stared at the food-thing.

"…That's bread…?" Axel pushed his tray away.

Leon peeked outside the lunchroom. He saw Cloud a little way down the hall, talking to Sephiroth. Lately, Sephiroth had been hanging around Cloud like an unwelcome shadow. Usually, Cloud would tell somebody that he didn't want to be around him or her and to go away. He had confessed to Aerith that the guy creeped him out a bit. That's why nobody understood why he never told him to get out of his face. Leon tiptoed closer and hid in a doorway close enough to hear them. He hung out with Yuffie way too much sometimes…

"C'mon Cloud, tell me what's wrong!" Sephiroth whined. Wait. Whined? Sephiroth whined to Cloud? Leon became all the more interested.

"I don't have to tell you anything." Cloud spoke just below anger.

"Cloud…" He heard something move.

"Don't touch me like that! I don't like you Sephiroth!" Something was pushed away. Leon took a step forward, still hiding in the doorway.

"Please?" Someone took a step. Leon poked his head around just so he could see but not be seen.

"Alright you pretty bastard…" Cloud pulled a lock of silver hair and Sephiroth came with it. "Once but then you stay away."

Sephiroth grabbed Cloud shoulders and pushed his whole body against the blond's. Cloud stuttered out a warning but was silenced by a pair of lips. Leon stared wide-eyed at the teens close by. Sephiroth ran his cold hand under Cloud shirt and the blond boy gasped rather loudly into the kiss, allowing a tongue to invade his mouth, exploring everywhere. Cloud shot his eyes open and struggled to get out of the other's grasp but he wasn't strong enough. He lifted his foot and stamped down hard on Sephiroth's shoe. He snapped his eyes open and broke apart the kiss.

"What was that for?" He almost snapped.

"G-get away from me." Sephiroth didn't move. "Now!" Taken aback by Cloud's harsh tone, he stepped back, releasing the blond.

"Why?"

"Just go!" Cloud kept a straight face until Sephiroth was back in the lunchroom. Then he frowned and sank to the ground by the wall. Leon didn't know what to do. He had to ask Cloud about why he ran out of the cafeteria but how was he supposed to ask him after that? It didn't help that he'd never seen two guys making out before. Or that it happened to be between someone he really hated and someone that was one of his best friends. Before he could think about it too much, he heard banging and looked back at Cloud. He was pounding his head into his arms, looking rather depressed. Or was it confused? Maybe both?

"Why? Why? Why? Why?" Cloud hit his head with every uttered 'why'. Leon decided to come forward and ask what was going on. He walked over to Cloud and stood above him, clearing his throat. Cloud looked up. When he saw it was Leon, his eyes grew wide. "L-l-leon. What a-are you doing here?" He managed to say the last part.

"Well, I was following you out of the lunchroom to see if you were okay. You did leave Roxas with quite a few questions." Cloud blinked.

"Then you saw Sephiroth and me…?"

"Yeah…" Leon turned his head away.

"He's been bugging me for weeks. I'm trying to stay away from him but he keeps coming back." Cloud looked down.

"So umm, why did you run out of the cafeteria?" Leon looked down at Cloud, ignoring the recent event.

Cloud mumbled something to the floor.

"Can't hear you."

"It's my ex. He might be coming." Cloud sighed and Leon sat down next to him on the floor. The blond blinked at him. "Nobody except me and him know we were going out. We broke up badly too. Because of our move here that is. We still loved each other when I left but I really hurt him by telling him I didn't anymore…" Cloud started to cry and Leon just looked at him.

"Your family has so many problems it's not even funny anymore." Cloud looked up and managed a small smile.

"Don't tell anybody though, not even Aerith!"

"I won't, I won't. But someday you will have to tell at least Roxas about yourself…" Cloud turned to look at the lockers across from them and smiled.

"I think he likes a guy already so it wouldn't really matter." Leon blinked.

"Roxas is gay too?"

"I said 'I think'. I'm not sure yet."

"Who do you think he likes?" Cloud turned back to Leon.

"Promise?"

"You don't trust me yet?"

"Ok fine. I think he likes Axel."

"Axel? Of all people to fall in love with Axel! Ha!"

"What's so funny about that?"

"It's just, you hate him and your little brother happens to fall for him."

"…"

"Kind of ironic if you ask me."

"I never said I hate him."

"Yeah, well, it's easy enough to see. Whenever you look at him somehow your eyes just get colder or something. It's creepy how much you dislike him sometimes."

Cloud smiled and hoisted himself up. "C'mon I think I can go back now." Leon pulled himself up and started to walk to the cafeteria next to his friend. They pushed open the lunchroom door and Roxas sat up in his seat to look at them.

"Cloud what's wrong?" A genuine look of concern.

"Ah, nothing really. I just had to use the bathroom real bad." Cloud scratched the back of his head embarrassedly.

"…The bathroom?"

"That is where I found him." Leon added sitting down and poking his food.

"AS I WAS SAYING…" The table turned to face Demyx. "We should all get together for a Christmas party!"

"Who's we?" Riku sighed when Sora spilled his drink for the second time that week.

"Sorry Riku!" He jumped up to get napkins.

"Well- Bitch, Axel, Sora, Roxas, Cloud, Aerith, Leon, Yuffie and the most important person, me!" He pumped his fist in the air. "O I could invite Zexy too…" he added under his breath as an afterthought.

"Sounds great." Axel smiled at Demyx. "I'd come."

"I like it if my friends who are visiting could come too." Roxas added. "But where would we have it?"

"We could go to my apartment…" Axel looked for acceptance.

"I'll go to your house if you get rid of your fucking brother and his fucking boyfriend." Demyx crossed his arms and glared at Axel.

"Well where else could we have it?" Axel glared back.

"Bitch's and my place."

"Our house is being fumigated for termites remember?"

"The Strife residence?"

"I don't know exactly where dad is so I don't think that'll work." Cloud had his head on the table next to Leon.

Sora bounded back with way too many napkins and threw them on Riku. "So-ra!" Sora giggled - yes, giggled - madly and plopped down next to Riku.

"I guess I could get Reno out for one night… Unless he can stay…"

"All in favor of making Reno sleep in the streets?" Demyx raised his solitary hand. "O come on people! Reno is a huge pain in the ass! Nobody else thinks that?" The residents of the lunch table stared blankly at him or shook their heads. "Fiiiine! Have it your way. We'll be at Axel's for the party then."

"He's really not that bad Dem."

"…"

"I agree with Riku, my brother's not all bad… Just mostly."

"Who's Reno?" Roxas asked all of a sudden.

Axel turned to him. "He's my big brother who Demyx obviously hates. I share an apartment with him and his boyfriend, Rude."

"O."

The bell rang and they all left their plans there.

0o0o0o

"Okay are you gonna get in the car or do I have to carry you again?" Axel sighed, blocking Roxas' path home.

"…" The blond unsuccessfully tried to get around Axel. He just picked him up from behind and threw his crutches into the truck. "Ax-el. Puhlease! I can walk home perfectly fine!" The redhead tried to open the passenger door but Roxas held his healthy foot out so he couldn't open it. "Now put me down!" Axel smirked and bit his ear. Roxas gasped.

"Make me." He carried the blond boy around the front of the car to the driver's side and opened the door before he could stop him. He jumped up and sat down and closed the door behind him and hugged Roxas into his lap.

After a few minutes of driving, Roxas spoke up. "Ax, you're really comfy." He sat on Axel's legs in between his arms with his legs hanging over the armrest in the middle. He buried his head in Axel's chest and soon, Axel stopped the car.

"We're at your house." Axel looked down at Roxas who just looked back up at him. Right there he looked to kissable to resist and that's just what Axel did. He cupped Roxas' face in his hands and bent down. He closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips against Roxas'.

At first, Roxas didn't respond he was so surprised but soon, he carefully and quickly pulled his legs up and on either side of Axel. Wrapping his arms around the redhead's neck, he deepened the kiss and the redhead moved is hands so they were wrapped around the blond's waist. Axel ran his tongue along Roxas' lips and he complied, opening his mouth. Axel eagerly took the invitation and explored every centimeter of his mouth. Roxas let him have his fun, pulling himself closer to Axel. Axel moved his hands up, under the back of Roxas' shirt, tracing the blond's spine. Roxas gasped into the kiss and melted in the redhead's arms.

Everything felt so right to both of the teens that they just stayed there, in Axel's car like that for a few more minutes. They didn't even notice when Cloud and Leon walked past the car. Leon turned to glance at the car when Cloud said that it was Axel's and spotted the two eating each other's faces off. "Uhh Cloud…" He poked Cloud's shoulder. Cloud turned and when he saw Axel and Roxas, grabbed Leon's hand and practically ran inside.

Roxas finally broke the kiss when he decided he needed to breathe properly again. Panting slightly, he buried his face in the crook of Axel's neck and smiled. Axel kept running his hand over Roxas' back, also breathing heavily. After a minute or two of recovery, he hadn't kissed anybody for a while after all, Roxas spoke up. "Does that make me your boyfriend?"

"I don't know, do you want it to?"

"I think I do."

"Then yes, we're legit." Axel smiled. "Now c'mon Roxy, I gotta take you all the way home, not just in my car in your driveway."

"Yeah, yeah ok." He sat up and Axel pried the door open, carrying out Roxas with him. He grabbed the crutches and Roxas' bag in the back and put Roxas down with them.

"Have a good night, see you tomorrow." He pecked Roxas on the cheek and hopped back in his truck. He pulled out of the driveway with a smile while Roxas happily hobbled into his house. He opened the door and closed it behind him, dropping his bag on the floor and going into the kitchen for a snack. He caught a Poptart that flew out of the toaster and turned back to the living room but stopped. Cloud was sitting in the recliner looking at him and Leon was on the couch reading a piece of paper.

"Hey…" Roxas talked behind a mouthful of Poptart.

"Hey yourself." Cloud stared back at him, his face soft. "Roxas, do you want to tell me anything." Roxas glanced at Leon. "Don't worry Roxas, he's really good at keeping secrets." Leon saluted.

"W-why would I have anything I need to tell you?" Roxas stuttered falling into the couch next to Leon.

"Roxas, I saw you and Axel in the car." Roxas stopped mid-chew and stared back at Cloud. Leon looked up from his work and watched Roxas' reaction.

"Cloud, I can't help it if you don't like Axel! I do! And…you'll probably be seeing a lot more of him now that I'm his boyfriend…" Roxas mumbled the last bit and crossed his arms.

"So… you're ok that you're gay? I mean, you used to be really straight. You had a girlfriend."

"Yeah, I'm gay, hate me." Roxas shot back.

"Hey! Why would I hate you?"

"Because- when we saw those two guys kissing at the mall all those years ago, you started to walk faster until we passed them."

"O yeah, I remember… But Roxas, that was a complicated situation which I do not want to go into detail right now." Leon blinked at Cloud's blush.

"Well then why wouldn't you hate me?"

Cloud frowned. "Because Roxas I like guys too." He smiled and Roxas stared wide-eyed at him. "Yeah, I do. But keep it secret. The only people I've told are you, Leon, Aerith and Yuffie so none of this to Sora and I won't tell him about you. Or anybody else for that matter."

"How long have you known?" Roxas relaxed, finishing his Poptart.

"Years. I think maybe four years ago I found out. I'm not sharing _that_ story though." He smiled remembering something. "Okay now go do your homework."

0o0o0o

Ok I realize that my writing of scenes such as read in this chapter are not so good but I tried.

I also realize that I should figure out a way to show boy-boy love other than kissing…

I tried to figure out how long Roxas would have had to spend in the hospital but I'm still not so sure.

PS. I just finished writing chapter 35 so this fic will be at least that long

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except James and a jar of Skippy Peanut Butter and the right to criticize the NUMBERS episode that's on FOX right now


	14. Episode 13

◆**14◆ **Episode 13

"Hello Strife house." Sora practically sang into the phone.

"Sora?" The voice cracked through the speaker.

"Yes?" Sora sank into the couch. "Who art thou?"

"Hey it's Hayner." Hayner laughed. "I just need to check some things about our trip."

"Hayner! Sure go ahead."

"So umm we're flying into the airport and we need someone to pick us up-"

"Roxas said he would."

"Ok and then we needed someplace to stay so if we can't stay at your house can you tell us a good hotel?"

"Cloud said you guys could stay here. Ollette can have the spare room if she wants."

"Cool. And just to make sure, you do know that Myself, Ollette, Pence and Vincent are coming right?"

"We weren't sure about Vincent but yup, you all can fit in our house."

"My parents are asking 'what about school'. It's our break but what about you guys?"

"Yea it'll be our break too so no worries."

"Great, can I talk to Roxas for a minute?"

"Nope sorry, he's asleep."

"What time is it?"

"5am."

"Then what are you doing up?"

"Cloud bought candy canes and put them on the tree."

"And you ate them?"

"Yup, all of 'em!"

"…"

"Didja know-"

"Bye Sora and go to sleep!" Hayner hung up.

"Boy he's rude isn't he?" Sora clicked off the phone and went back to watching a re-run of Pepper Dennis. 'I'm sorry' "No Babcock! Don't leave her! Especially at the altar!"

0o0o0o

I apologize for the shortness because it truly is very short.

Much shorter than all the other chapters…

Ah, well.

On FOX channel here in Japan they used to play this show called Pepper Dennis and it was a reporter show that every single girl in 8th grade was obsessed with when it was on. And our English teacher too. I have to admit, I was in that group although I don't think I was as obsessed as the others. Whatever, they don't play it anymore.

No flames unless you're Axel// o 0 o\\


	15. Damn Ex

◆**15◆ **Damn Ex

"Where were we supposed to meet them again?" Axel looked around the packed airport. The holiday tourists were all arriving and it was filled to the brim. Roxas brought Axel to come with him to the airport to pick up his friends.

"Here at arrivals…" Roxas looked around as well. He and Axel liked being boyfriends more and more everyday. Roxas was still wary about a person rejecting him for it though- that was part of the reason why he said no boyfriend contact while Hayner and those guys were around. He also still had the crutches but not the arm cast. Apparently his leg was broken in more than one place so it would take longer to heal.

He peered up at an airplane schedule. "Their flight landed five minutes ago. After baggage claim and all that they should be here soon…" He trailed off, spotting a tall black-haired man. "There they are. C'mon!" He carefully made his way through the crowd with Axel trailing faithfully behind him like a puppy. "Vincent?" Roxas poked the man's hand when he stood behind him finally. The man turned and smiled when he saw Roxas.

"Roxas!" He ruffled the blond's hair at which he got a very annoyed look. "Hey, ok, I won't do it again." He raised his arms in self-defense. "What happened?" He spotted the crutches.

"I'll tell it later on when everybody's here so I don't have to say it again." Axel made an odd choky noise and Roxas turned around. "I was getting to you! Vincent, this is my friend Axel. Axel, Vincent."

"Nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand.

"Likewise." He shook it briefly then let it drop.

"Where are the others anyways?"

"I came ahead to find you. They're still getting bags but they should be out any minute." He turned towards the arrival door and waved. "Here they are."

Axel watched as a blond boy who looked like he wanted to either be in the army or in a gang lead a pretty brunette girly-girl and a chubby black-haired gangsta-wannabe boy towards Vincent. When she saw Roxas, the girl threw her bag at the leader- who barely managed to catch it- and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him on the lips. Roxas stood there awkwardly, unsure of where to put his hands while trying to stay balanced on his crutches and Axel gaped at them. He had never been told of this girl! She finally broke the chaste kiss and let go of Roxas taking him all in.

"Roxas I missed you!" She smiled brightly, her curly hair bouncing. Before Roxas could say anything the two pack horses managed to break through the crowd.

"Roxas, couldn't even wait long enough to get home before you and Ollette started to make-out?" The blond smirked and crossed his arms.

"Hey Hayner- I missed you too."

"Psh." Hayner waved it off.

"Haha he has Roxas. You should see him! Whenever we go up to the clock tower and eat ice cream he's always like 'We should buy another ice cream and leave it here so if he comes back, he'll have his ice cream.' It's really funny actually, but I missed you too." The chubby one smiled and ignored Hayner's outrage cries.

"Good to see you Pence." Roxas warmly smiled back.

"Good to see you too but what happened to your leg?" Pence pointed to the cast.

"That would be a good story for when we get back to my house. It's quite a long one."

"Ok then who's he?" Hayner rudely pointed at Axel's face. Said redhead folded his arms on his chest and smirked.

"I'm Axel. Memorize it. Blondie's friend." He looked at his watch. "Also the guy who is keeping track of the time. Cloud said to be home by 6 for some un-godly reason so let's go." The three newest comers blinked at him. "What?" He blinked back.

"Yeah this is Axel. He's cool. Now let's go. You guys have to get a cab though, sorry. I don't have a car yet and he only has a two-seater pickup truck so here's my address." Roxas gave Vincent a slip of paper. And they all walked out the airport.

0o0o0o

"So uhh, just so I'm clear, what's up with the girl who kissed you?" Axel and Roxas were driving down the freeway to the Strife house.

Roxas sighed. "She's my ex but I didn't want to hurt her feeling so I didn't exactly leave her completely." Axel glared at him through the mirror. "I know, I know, bad decision but now I have to deal with it. Actually, what I told her was that if we both didn't find love before the next time we met that we would get back together be it long distance relationship or not. I'm not sure if I could just come out and say 'o sorry Ollette, forgot to mention I found love. It's the guy with the red hair."

"I'm not sure what you should say either but tell her if not all of them okay? I can put up with people hugging you but not with the kisses."

"Ok." He sank into the seat. "Wake me when we're five minutes away." He buried his head in the armrest and closed his eyes until somebody touched his cheek. He blinked his eyes open. "Hnn?" He looked around and Axel smiled at him. "O right. Five minutes?"

"Yup."

They pulled into Roxas' driveway a few minutes later and Axel hopped out to help Roxas down. He didn't pick him up like usual though because a taxi had just stopped in front of the house as well. They all crawled out of the cab and Vincent paid while the others got the bags. Sora flew out of the house with Cloud walking slowly behind him. He waved at the guests as they walked up the driveway.

"Hey guys." He smiled.

"Hey Cloud." They all chimed in.

Sora on the other hand ran up and took Ollette's bag and Hayner's, shouting greetings as he went. Then he ran back into the house and collapsed on the ground in front of the couch. Everybody followed Roxas in the house and sat in the living room. "There's a Christmas party tonight since tomorrow is Christmas. It's with all my friends here and they invited you guys too." Roxas sat on the couch next to Axel and Hayner. Cloud sat in the recliner, as far away from Vincent – who sat on a chair from the table on the opposite side of the room- as currently possible. Ollette was next to Hayner and Pence was cross-legged next to Sora on the floor.

"Awesome we already get to meet our replacements." Hayner laughed at Roxas' frown.

"And look, it's me, Axel, again with the watch that says we should head over to my place now." He got up and stretched. "This time we can all fit in my car- I just won't go over fifty." He snickered and everyone except Roxas paled.

"Why are we going to your house Axel?" Sora sat up.

"Because, Brownie, that's where the party is. Remember anything?" Sora just shook his head and Roxas sighed.

They all piled into the pickup part of Axel's truck with Roxas in the passenger seat because of his leg. The redhead's crazy driving was toned down a bit considering that flying out of the back of a pickup truck is illegal in Destiny Islands and soon they pulled into the parking lot of an apartment building that had all of it's doors to the apartments on the outside. Cloud hopped out of the truck first, attempting to stay away from his ex- whom so far he'd been able to not talk to at all- and helped Roxas out. Everyone spilled out and followed Axel up two flights of stairs and to the first door. Suddenly, Demyx ran up to them looking angry. He was wearing a tight black and lime green stripped long sleeve shirt and tight black jeans. "Demyx… uhh why are you out here?" Axel looked at his friend.

"Because Axel, your fucking brother is in there and nobody can even start to control him except you!" Demyx waved his arms in the air and the four visitors looked at him skeptically from behind Axel.

"Demyx calm down. How long will it take for you to realize that you're the only one who thinks Reno is that horrid?" He smirked lightly.

"Whatever just you go in first." Demyx crossed his arms and then noticed the newcomers. "Who are you?" He brightened.

"These are my friends from Twilight Town." Roxas piped up. "Hayner, Pence, Ollette and Vincent, this is Demyx." They smiled and Demyx smiled back.

The front door flew open and Riku looked at them all. "Axel, what took you so long?" He pulled Axel's head down and whispered in his ear. "We can barely stop Reno from kissing Rude and so now Aerith is thoroughly freaked out and Leon and Yuffie are trying to ignore it! Get in here now!" He walked back into the house and everyone stared at Axel skeptically.

"What?" They followed him into the main room and were greeted by Leon, Yuffie, Riku, Aerith, a bald man and another redhead. "Reno H.P.s are here." Reno promptly sat up fully and scooted a little away from Rude on the couch. Aerith sprung up from the recliner and ran up to Cloud and hugged him.

"Merry Christmas Cloud! I haven't seen you in days!"

"Merry Christmas Aerith." He hugged her back and Vincent stared at them from behind. He still loved Cloud. Even if he had noticed that Cloud had been conveniently avoiding him the whole day, he wasn't just going to stand on the sidelines during his whole trip here. He wanted Cloud back for himself. He knew that Cloud was really gay so he didn't mind so much that he was hugging a girl.

"Yo, Ax. Who're all the hitchhikers?" Reno stared at the new people.

"Yo, Reno, be nice. They're Roxas' friends visiting from Twilight Town." Reno blinked. "O right. This," he pulled Roxas in front of him. "Is Roxas." Said blond nodded sheepishly. "And that's his big brother Cloud and his twin Sora." He gestured to the people.

"Finally I get to meet the boy-" Axel coughed. "who was crushed by the building!" Reno added quickly.

"He what?" Ollette gasped.

"O this is priceless. You haven't told them the story of the year? Ha! Even Axel's told me about it!, zo to" Reno smirked.

"How exactly did you break your leg Roxas?" Hayner collapsed in the couch next to Rude. Pence and Sora sat on the floor again and Riku plopped down next to Sora with Demyx. Axel sat next to Reno and they let Roxas have the recliner. Aerith sat by the table with Yuffie and Leon and she dragged Cloud along with her. Vincent sank down against the wall by the door.

"I guess I have to tell you guys now don't I?" Roxas sighed when they all nodded and continued. "Ok so I was alone in an old church and an earthquake happened and it collapsed on me. I was in the hospital for three weeks but now I'm fine except for a broken leg and a couple broken-but-almost-healed ribs."

"How can you say that's fine?" Ollette huffed. "You didn't even tell us!"

"Uhh sorry." Roxas blushed.

"Rox-as!" Hayner shook his head.

The party lasted the whole night. Ollette, Hayner and Pence fell asleep apparently from jetlag but Vincent managed to stay awake because he wanted so desperately to be back on good terms with Cloud. Rude ordered some pizzas and Riku pulled out a bunch of movies they had rented from his bag a couple hours later.

"Okay we've got a lot of choices like," He pawed through the pile. "The Ring, The Ring 2 and The Ring in Japanese… Axel! Where's all the other movies?" Axel conveniently left the room to get drinks. "Ugg. Anyways, which movie?"

"I can't watch this movie…" Sora mumbled.

"Uuu let's watch the first one!" Demyx jumped up from the floor and popped the DVD into the player. He plopped back down on the floor, leaning against the couch.

"Ok we'll watch the first one then…" Everyone got comfortable as the opening scene started.

"Ri-ku I really can't watch this movie..." Sora whined quietly next to Riku.

"It's not real Sora. You'll be fine."

"But I've had nightmares for the past two years from seeing it once!"

"Watch the first few minutes at least then we'll see if you can't watch anymore."

"But Riku-"

"Shh it's starting."

Sora stared blankly at the screen until it started to freak him out. Right when he saw the girl he squeaked and buried his face in Riku's shoulder. Riku smirked. He was suddenly happy that Axel had changed all the movies. He had forgotten how clingy Sora could be- especially when he was scared.

Since the room was now dark (other than the large TV screen) and the visitors had fallen asleep (except the shady tall guy), Reno took it upon himself to crawl back into Rude's lap to watch the movie. He smiled as Rude played with his long, red hair. They had been together for about two years now and were still madly in love with each other. Reno curled his legs up against his chest so he was completely on his lover's lap.

Cloud stood up. His can was empty and he wanted another drink. He strolled into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Vincent watched him get up and followed him into the other room. Leon was also paying attention and had figured since Cloud had been acting so off the whole party that his ex really had come for a visit. The three kids sleeping weren't old enough for Cloud but the tall guy, who just stood up, Vincent, was. He stood up and followed behind a little ways. Yuffie and Aerith were too into the movie to notice. He stopped just outside the kitchen and watched around the corner. He didn't want to see Cloud cry again. The blond seemed to be really emotional lately and Leon didn't like it.

Cloud grabbed a drink out of the refrigerator and closed the door. He started to open the can but stopped and turned around. He gaped at his ex, dropping his can, but caught his face and put on a placid mask.

"Hey Cloud." He took a couple steps forward and caught the can of soda before it hit the floor.

"Vincent…" Cloud looked him in the eye.

"Cloud why have you been ignoring me?" Genuine sadness flashed on his features.

"Vincent I told you, I don't love you anymore."

"Stop it! We both know that's a lie. You can't lie Cloud. Especially not to me!" He sighed. "You think I would be able to tell after being with you for three years! You just dropped me there, out of the blue!"

"… I'm sorry Vincent I… I just couldn't be away from you but still be with you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"'

"I don't want a long-distance relationship Vincent. You have to understand that!" Cloud stepped forward so he was arms length away, frowning up at him. He was about two heads taller- like Sephiroth.

"Cloud I don't want to be selfish but I don't care how far away I am from you. I still love you." He put his hands on Cloud's shoulders.

"…" His breathing was unsteady. The taller one bent his head down so he was centimeters away from the shorter one's lips. When Cloud didn't move away, he slowly kissed him. Cloud closed his eyes as Vincent wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him closer. Vincent ran his tongue along Cloud's lips and Cloud complied, quickly opening his mouth and wrapping his hands on the back of Vincent's head. Running his hands through his hair, Cloud pulled him down into the kiss. Vincent smiled into the kiss and pulled Cloud even closer -if that was really possible. Cloud broke the kiss and wrapped his arms around Vincent's waist. "…I guess I might have missed you more than I thought…" Cloud looked up at Vincent with half-lidded eyes and smiled.

"I love you Cloud." He ran a hand through Cloud's hair and smiled back.

"I still love you Vincent. I'm sorry I hurt you…" Cloud frowned.

"It's forgivable." He smiled.

"I wouldn't have guessed you two were an item the way you were avoiding each other all day." Axel sauntered into the kitchen.

"A-axel…" Cloud started to back away from Vincent but he was pulled back.

"Nah don't move, I don't mind." He grabbed a piece of pizza and started to head back out the door. He paused at the exit. "O by the way, someone else saw your little uh side-party going on in here but they told me not to tell you guys who they were."

"Tell Axel." Cloud said.

"Nah I can't. Plus you two were totally hot." He smirked and walked back to the couch.

"Is he gay too?" Vincent looked at the doorway.

"Don't tell ok? He and Roxas are together."

"Roxas? As in your brother Roxas?" Vincent blinked. He wouldn't have guessed that Roxas was gay by the way that he and Ollette had been in love before he left.

"Shh don't tell!"

"I won't, really."

0o0o0o

"Ahh!" Sora buried his face in the silver haired teen's shoulder again. Throughout the whole movie so far he'd probably actually seen only five whole minutes of it.

Riku sighed. "Sora, do you want to go wait outside till the movie ends?" The brunette nodded frantically and followed close behind Riku outside of the front door. They were stepping outside when they saw someone they didn't expect to see. "Zexion?" Riku looked at him. "What're you doing here?"

"Demyx invited me and I said I would be here so here I am. Even if I am a couple hours late, I'm still here." He walked past them and into the house.

Demyx turned when he was tapped on the shoulder. "Hnn?" He blinked. "Zexion?" The shadow nodded and Demyx leapt off of the floor. "Zexy! You came! Merry Christmas!" He hugged Zexion who looked rather flustered and pulled him back down on the floor next to him. "I love this movie but I probably won't be able to answer the phone for the rest of the week…" He blushed.

"I've never seen this…" Zexion watched a lady pick up the phone.

"Really? It's The Ring. The first one. A horror." Demyx smiled.

"Why do you watch it if you're scared of it then?" Zexion was puzzled.

Demyx faced him. "…Because you're here…" He turned back to the screen and smiled. Zexion blushed and watched the TV as well.

0o0o0o

"Riku, why are some stars so much brighter than all the other ones?" They watched the cloudless night sky and could see a ton of stars.

"Dunno."

"Then why is that star red and that star white and that star yellow?"

"Dunno."

Sora turned to him. "Is that all you can say?"

"Dunno." Riku smirked back.

"…" Sora turned back to the sky. The bright light from the full moon and all of the stars danced in his eyes and Riku thought it to be one of the prettiest things he'd ever seen. Before he knew what he was doing, he had bent over and pecked Sora on the cheek. Sora swiftly turned his head and stared at Riku for a brief second then walked back into the apartment. Riku slapped his forehead. He always managed to mess things up.

Everyone ended up falling asleep by the middle of the second Ring and spent the night sprawled all over Axel's apartment. Sora snuck into the recliner with Roxas sometime during the night since he was so scared, making Axel jealous when he woke up. They all left the house around noon-the time they dragged themselves off of the couches and home. Later that day the Strife brothers, their guests and Axel made plans to go to the mall. Sora didn't talk to Riku the whole way home and didn't acknowledge him when the silver haired boy said goodbye.

0o0o0o

Think of H.Ps as whatever you want.

Harry Potters

Hijet Printer (or whatever they're called)

Halo Player (I have heard it before, don't look at me like that!)

Homophobes

…I think you know which one I was referring to.

Yay! Light Zemyx! Gotta love those two.

**DISCLAIMER::** I own nothing in this fic except for the plot, James, Jimmy Miller and this TV that's playing Desecration Smile by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers right now (yay love that song).

OMG I know it's not a new game but I'm promoting Final Fantasy X-2! Rikku love!! It's weird because me, considered goth or emo at most times, would usually love Paine. But Rikku just is awesome! And even though I haven't played Final Fantasy X yet (yeah, weird I started with the sequel) I can't stop playing! Brother creeps me out though…

Be prepared for angsty!


	16. Black Holes and Revelations

◆**16◆ **Black Holes and Revelations

"Roxas, I've been here three days now. We need to talk." Ollette strode into the blond boy's room.

"Sure." He put down the calculator he was still using to catch up on missed schoolwork and stood up so the girl could have his chair and sat on his bed. For some reason, around girls he had this tendency to act particularly gentleman-like. Charming, some of the moms used to call him. His cast had been taken off the day before and although he would have to be careful with it for the next month or so, he felt like he could do anything again.

She took the seat. "Well, it's just that you haven't been acting yourself around me lately and I don't know why…" Roxas' whole body tensed and Ollette shock her head. "See? You just got so tense just from me talking to you! What's wrong?"

"I guess I'm just still feeling a bit off from the whole accident thing…" Roxas looked at his carpet so she couldn't tell he was lying.

Ollette got up from the seat and sat down next to Roxas on his bed. She placed a reassuring arm around his shoulder. "You should have told me that was bothering you! Then I would have tried to help!"

Roxas turned to face her grimly. "…"

"Roxas… Is there something you're hiding? You said we could get back together if we weren't in love the next time we saw each other… So far I haven't seen or even heard of a girlfriend or even a crush…" Roxas just shook his head 'no'. Somehow Ollette deciphered this gesture as 'come here' and she crawled into Roxas' lap with either leg on each side of him. Roxas inwardly gulped. Ollette always was a touchy-feely kind of person. He used to like that about her! But now it made him dreadfully uncomfortable and anxious.

It made him miss Axel.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and when he just looked back at her she kissed him. Roxas started to kiss back from instinct but caught himself almost instantly and pulled away. Ollette looked at him with worry- and maybe hurt- on her face.

"Roxas? What's wrong?" _Something's really up if he doesn't want to kiss me…_

"Ollette, i-if I told you something big- something that might upset you, could we still be friends?" He slightly frowned. He didn't want to be kissing Ollette anymore but that didn't mean he didn't want to love her in a friendship way.

"What kind of thing?" She unwrapped her arms from his neck but stayed on his lap. "You're not doing drugs are you? You're not a murderer or a gang member right...Right?" She worried out loud and her volume grew as she spoke.

Roxas almost smiled. "No, of course not! Nothing as serious as that but it's still a big thing." He turned away.

"Just tell me already!" she huffed.

Roxas turned back to her and blinked twice then closed his eyes. Telling Ollette would mean coming out of the closet completely to all the people he knew in Twilight Town. She told everyone everything that she knew. She was quite the gossiper. He took a deep breath, let it out, opening his eyes and looking into the brunette's impatient ones.

"Ollette, I have found love here." She frowned slightly but still kept eye contact. "It's with a guy."

It took a few seconds for the words to fully register in her mind. She sprung off of Roxas, always staring at him and backing away.

"W-what exactly are you saying Roxas?" She hoped she had just heard wrongly.

"Ollette I'm gay." With wide-eyes, she ran out of Roxas' room and downstairs. Tears started to roll when she burst through the front door and into Hayner. She clung to him and sobbed wanting it all to go away. Pence and Vincent stopped their conversation and hurried over to see what was wrong. Hayner, being quite flustered by the sudden wave of emotion coming off of Ollette (not to mention all of the surprising, but not disliked, contact), awkwardly wrapped his arms around the brunette. Comforting words in her ear finally calmed her down a few minutes later. Calm enough to at least talk in somewhat coherent sentences.

"Ollette, what's wrong? What happened?" Hayner had his arm around her shoulders while they sat on the Strife house front steps. Pence sat on her other side and Vincent stood a little ways off but nonetheless concerned.

"Roxas happened! He…he….he…" A small burst of tears.

"What did Roxas do to you?" Hayner really didn't think Roxas would do anything to ever hurt another human being- especially Ollette- in any way but what had he done to make Ollette so shook up?

She fully turned to him and peered at him through blurry eyes. "Hayner, Roxas is… He's-He's gay!" She burst into hysterical tears again and buried her face in Hayner's jacket. Hayner and Pence looked at each other, wide-eyed. Was Roxas really gay? They had never met a gay person before but of course had heard about them. If Roxas really was gay, why hadn't he told them? They had made a pact when they were very little that they would never, ever hide anything between themselves and none of them had broken it until now. Both their faces clouded with hatred and disdain towards their old friend. He had broken their pact and had made Ollette cry and no matter who it was, nobody made Ollette cry and got away with it.

Vincent looked at the sobbing girl then at the two boys. So Roxas really was gay. He even confessed it to his now ex-girlfriend.

Things would surely get moving now.

Roxas sat rigidly on his bed. Why had Ollette reacted like that? So he had just come out of the closet. So she had just been dumped. Naturally that would end up in crying and hysteria but that much of it? He wanted to cry himself. The way she had looked at him. The way she had been so caring when she first came in but then changed so much from one sentence. He had made her cry. He had only seen Ollette cry twice before. First at her father's funeral and then again when Roxas left for Destiny Islands. He hated to see her cry. Her beautiful face turned all red and her eyes lost their shine. But not just her appearance, she overall just made Roxas sad to look at her when she cried.

He staggered to his door, locked it shut and then sauntered back to his bed. The blond collapsed face-first onto his bed, not even caring about using his pillow or wiping away the tears that ran down his nose and into the sheets. He feebly switched off his lamp and lie on his bed. His ears could barely pick up the muffled cries from outside but he could still hear them nonetheless.

He was a leper.

**0o0o0o**

Vincent turned from the scene of Hayner and his brother still trying to calm down a distraught Ollette on the front steps. He immediately stood when he saw Cloud and Sora approaching and hurried up to them before they could see the figures on the stairs.

"Hey Vincent, what's the hurry?" Cloud stopped when Vincent ran up to them. The black haired man bent a little and covered his mouth so Sora couldn't hear.

"Something's happened. Apparently Roxas just told Ollette he was gay and she ran out her about half an hour ago balling her eyes out." He whispered in Cloud's ear. Cloud gasped then frowned.

"Is she alright now?" He whispered back.

"Hey what're you guys talking about?" Sora piped up but was promptly ignored.

"Hayner and Pence calmed her down but they are currently hating your brother."

"Where is Roxas?"

"In the house still."

"Nobody's gone in and checked on him?" Cloud seemed to bristle.

"Well, no they were worried about Ollette and I'm not even sure if I would have allowed them into the house since they aren't thinking rationally right now."

"So no one's checked on my baby brother? The one who's been really depressed lately- even if he never shows it, I can tell- and who has been blaming himself for our mother's death?" Cloud started to raise his voice but caught himself before the impatient Sora could hear. For it was true, Cloud had caught Roxas mumbling something along the lines of 'I killed her' or 'she's gone because of me' at least twice. He desperately wanted to help him but every time he tried to bring up the subject, his little brother managed to change it.

"Your mom is dead! When?"

"In the building collapse. Roxas wasn't alone. He and mom were both there but she didn't make it out alive." He looked down.

"I'm sorry Cloud…" Vincent touched his shoulder.

"So am I…" The blond had the sudden impulse to shake off the hand but held it in. "Ok I have to check on him. Keep Sora in the dark for now and make sure he doesn't go inside." Cloud ran past Vincent to the stairs where he received two death glares (and one in confusion) and up into the house.

"Roxas?" He looked around the first floor quickly then climbed the stairs. "Roxas where are you?" He knocked on Roxas' door and when no response came he tried to open it but found it securely locked. "Roxas are you in there? I need to talk to you brother, please! Open up!" He tried the doorknob again but it wouldn't budge so he looked through his backpack for a key to the door but found none. "I'm not mad. Really, I'm not but I need to know you're okay…" He pounded on the door for a few more minutes trying to get Roxas to unlock it but failing miserably.

Roxas lay on his bed listening to all the commotion going on outside. As hard as it was to ignore his brother, he did and buried his head under his pillow.

Cloud sank to the floor against Roxas' door. "Roxas, please. I'm worried about you. Just open up so I can see with my own eyes you're okay." He closed his eyes and banged the back of his head against the door. All he needed was a depressed little brother that he'd have to watch carefully to make sure he didn't jump in front of a train or something. Soon he looked through his bag again just to make sure that he really didn't have the key and he really didn't. Instead, he found his cell phone. He immediately thought of calling Axel and followed through, finding his number in the address book and quickly calling it. Axel picked up and when Cloud explained the situation, got into his car and swiftly came down to the house.

He pulled into the driveway and jumped out of his red truck. There was Ollette, coughing and sniffling lightly while Pence and Hayner babied over her. Vincent sat on the side, looking rather annoyed while Sora continuously poured out questions about what was going on to him. Vincent looked up when he heard the engine and when he recognized Axel, he sighed in relief. Ollette, Hayner and Pence also looked up when they heard the engine. He ignored the boys' glares and hurried past, straight into the house. He climbed the stairs two at a time and found Cloud banging his head on the door to Roxas' room. He looked up when he saw Axel's shadow and almost smiled.

"I know he's in there. Even if he hasn't responded, I know he's in there." Feeling rather tired (half because of calling for Roxas and half because of the throbbing headache from the door), Cloud apparently felt Axel could handle it and walked outside the house.

Axel approached the door apprehensively. Finally he knocked twice. He didn't hear anything in the room beyond the door. He knocked again. "Roxas?" Roxas unburied his head when he heard Axel's voice but the redhead didn't hear the shuffle on the bed. "Hey I know you can hear me so just keep on listening. All right? Good." He sat down with the side of his face against the door so he could talk and listen. This had the prospect of taking a while. "I know that I never met your mom but from what I've heard, she was really great. I also heard that you loved her very much and that you blame yourself for her passing away." He sighed, realizing how bad he was at making philosophical speeches up as he went. "But Roxy, you were just as much a victim as she was. Just because you survived the crash doesn't mean that you didn't lose as much as she did. You were in the hospital for weeks! You had painful surgery and headaches and needles and I can't even go on. Yes, she was lost but the doctors say she went instantly, painlessly. Rox I know all my words are jumbled but what I'm really trying to say is that it's not your fault. It's really not. An you shouldn't be putting that thought in your head because it wasn't your fault…"

He shifted his position a bit towards the tiny crack between the door and the wall. "And as for what's happened today, well, all I can say is this. You and I both know how much the female population overreacts to everything that ever goes on." Axel thought he heard a _huff _from inside. "It's just their nature. But eventually, it boils over and things go back to the way they were. I think that Ollette was really surprised more than anything else. You dumped her and at the same time, you told her you were gay. That's quite a big blow for one sitting. Give it time and she'll go back to being your friend or at least, on good terms with you." He stood up but kept his ear on the door. "Roxy, I know you are sad right now and you want to be alone, that would give good explanation to the locked door and the whole no talking thing but I'm going to be right here, outside your door if you need me."

Axel ended up sitting against the opposite wall from Roxas' door. He wasn't going to just leave his boyfriend to live his life depressed in the confines of his bedroom. And he especially wasn't going to leave him after he'd promised to wait outside if he needed him. Something about his boyfriend made Axel more caring towards the blond. Maybe it was how frail he was at times or how caring he was to Axel even if at times Axel wasn't exactly caring.

Whatever it was, Roxas was changing him and he could tell.

About forty-five minutes after his speech, Axel heard soft footsteps and then a metallic click. He looked up at the door and saw the knob turn. Roxas sullenly walked over to where Axel was sitting cross-legged and collapsed in the redhead's lap. He wrapped his arms around Axel's chest and his legs around his waist and dug his face into the Axel's chest. He breathed deeply the familiar smells (on days like today he smelled like something a bit burnt but still edible) and sighed, tightening his hold. Axel wrapped his arms around Roxas and held him close. Silently he ran a hand through the blond hair at a soothing rhythm until Roxas' ragged breathing was a steady pace.

Roxas looked up at his boyfriend. "Ax, I'm sorry I worried Cloud."

"Hey people need a little bit of worry in their lives right?" He peered back down at Roxas and smiled. "I like it better when you talk."

"So do I." Roxas rested his head again on Axel's chest and sighed deeply. Axel could tell by the way that his face became the slightest bit softer that he was asleep. Roxas was a very heavy sleeper and you could do almost anything around him without disturbing him. What always surprised Axel more though was how much sleep the kid actually did. Axel heard footsteps on the stairs and he turned his head to see Vincent step up the last step.

"Hey Axel uhh Cloud was just wondering what was up with Roxas and he sent me…" He noticed Roxas held tightly in Axel's grasp and couldn't help but smile. "Ok so I can tell them he's fine?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine." Vincent turned and walked back down the stairs. Axel looked back down at his love. Everything seemed to happen to him. His family in general attracted attention but Roxas seemed to be the very center of it all. He smiled and gently kissed the blonde's forehead.

"A-axel, why is Roxas so close to you?" Sora unexpectedly popped his head up from the staircase.

"S-sora! Don't scare me like that!" Axel tried to think of an excuse. He knew that Roxas didn't want Sora to know about him yet. Or at least, he hadn't.

"Well, why are you so close?" Sora really had no idea as to why his brother and Axel were so very close on the floor together. He walked over so that he was standing over Axel and Roxas and casting a shadow on the pair.

The redhead frantically raked his mind for an answer to that. He wanted to be able to tell Sora that he and Roxas were together so that they could act normally around him but Roxas on the other hand, didn't. Probably revisiting the same fears of rejection that he had when he first told Axel his feelings.

Axel rubbed his forehead and looked up to Sora, still holding Roxas. "Sora, I'm not sure if Roxas would want me to tell you this or not so please don't say that I told you. Got it?" Sora nodded. "Good. The thing is, Roxas is my boyfriend. And I'm his."

Sora stared down at the couple on the floor. Then he…

Smiled…?

"Ok cool." Then he turned and walked back down the stairs.

Axel watched him go. The way that Roxas had wanted so desperately to keep Sora in the dark had made him almost sound homophobe or anti-gay or an activist or something. But he had just accepted the fact that his brother was gay without even asking a single question! Unless, Sora considered Axel a girl… Roxas shifted in Axel's lap and mumbled something. He blinked his eyes open and looked up at Axel again.

"I'm cold." He shivered almost on cue.

"Let's go watch something on TV." Axel stood up, still carrying Roxas and took him downstairs without waiting for an answer. He plopped Roxas down on the couch and made some hot chocolate in the microwave. The blond curled up in some blankets and took his hot mug from the redhead. Axel turned on the TV and they decided it was a good day to watch House re-runs.

"Remember this one?" Axel had Roxas between his legs like usual and he was sitting against the armrest so he could stretch out.

"Is this the one with the little pregnant diver or the one with the epileptic mayor guy?" He sipped on his hot chocolate and it burned his tongue. Axel had a knack for over heating things but he didn't really mind.

"I think it's the pregnant swimmer one… Yeah, it's that one."

"I didn't even think they could make babies that young…"

"It's just another one of those freaky female abilities."

"Nicely put."

"Why thank you." Axel smirked and ruffled Roxas' hair while pushing his head down under the blanket. The blond popped his head back up and turned to look at his boyfriend. He put his mug down on the coffee table and Axel followed suit, holding his smirk. Said smirk was soon concealed though by a pair of Roxas lips. Although the blond was eager and had turned his body completely around into the kiss, Axel quickly became dominate –so far it always had been- when he ran his hands over Roxas' hipbones and waistline. He flipped Roxas over so that he was the one on bottom and Axel was straddling him and moved his warm hands up the back of his shirt. Running his tongue all over the inside of Roxas' mouth, he tasted the sweet hot chocolate. Roxas pulled on his hair and he pushed harder into the kiss. Axel moved his hands downward and fingered the hem on Roxas' pants and the hipbones they were riding on. When his hands moved closer to the zipper, Roxas shot his hand out and stopped him but kept on kissing back all the time. Axel understood and instead moved his head to Roxas' neck, his hands back under his shirt. He lightly bit his collarbone, which he received a quiet moan for. He liked the sound so much that he did it again, this time on the side of his neck and sucking on the skin. Roxas moaned again, this time louder and twisted some of Axel's red hair in his fingers. Axel went back to tonguing Roxas' mouth while his hands danced under the blonde's shirt. Roxas felt something tight in his pants and he guessed Axel had too because he moved his hands back down around his hipbones. Roxas moaned into the heated kiss and pulled harder on red hair. He loved how he was feeling so much he didn't see or hear the figure walking inside the house and abruptly stopping outside the living room. He moaned rather loudly into the kiss again when Axel's hand managed to find itself rubbing the inside of the blonde's thigh. Axel half opened his eyes to look at his love when he caressed his check with his tongue but stopped mid-lick when he spotted the person watching them. He quickly whispered to Roxas who sat up next to Axel immediately, head spinning and panting slightly. He rubbed some spit off of his face and looked to see the person.

"O-llette…"

She blinked back at him awkwardly. "So I guess he's your boyfriend then?" Her voice was almost timid.

Roxas nodded and Axel took it upon himself to wrap his arms around his waist and pull him into his lap.

She lightly smiled and then added. "Well I came in here to find you because I wanted to apologize for the way I acted… I'm sorry. I really am. I think I might have over-"

"It's ok." He cut her off and smiled. "We uh, we can still be friends right?"

"Sure..."

**0o0o0o**

…

ok, I've read this chapter through at least a billion times and I still can't figure out what bothers me about it…

whatever. Don't be too mean!!

The title is a name of a CD I know but I intended it to be a line from Starlight by Muse. I love that song. You know what I also love? My new phone. BG of choice: Jared Leto.

**DISCLAIMER: **I own nothing except the plot, James, yet another jar of Skippy peanut butter and the fact that I've written 40 chapters. Oo… now I've got writer's block…


	17. Can We Talk?

◆**17◆ **Can we talk?

"Hello Strife's!" Sora bounced over and picked up the wireless phone from the table.

"Sora?" The voice sounded apprehensive.

"Yes." Sora plopped down on the couch.

"Hey, it's me."

"Riku?" Sora frowned.

"Yea…"

"…" There was a long minute of awkward silence.

"Are you… Are you still mad at me?" Riku broke said awkward silence.

"I'm not mad at you…"

"But you acted like you were so mad at me."

"I don't want to talk about this right now Riku."

"But Sora! It's been two days and you haven't talked to me at all."

"Riku I've been spending time with my brothers and Roxas' friends."

"Yeah well something's off with you and me lately."

"Yea well uhh Cloud's calling me I have to go now bye." He clicked the phone off and put it back into the phone charger before Riku could reply.

"Bye…" Riku clicked off his cell and frowned. Demyx turned around from watching America's Next Top Model and looked up at Riku. He always did sit on the floor.

"Hey why you frowning Bitch?" He was still half-paying attention to the episode but since he already had seen it, it didn't matter so much.

"Because Sora's ignoring me and won't admit it or tell me why." He sighed.

"Watcha do to him?" Demyx turned around fully, now interested in his friend's predicament.

"It might be because I kissed him…"

"Uhh probably. Didn't we go through the whole 'Sora looks straight' thing already? And when did this happen?" He quoted their speech with his fingers.

"Yeah I know and it happened at that Christmas party."

"So you kissed a straight guy on the lips? O boy did Bitch mess up this time!" Demyx smirked.

"No, just on the cheek and he still freaked out."

"I dunno how to help. I've never tried to change a person's gayness before. My Zexy told me just the other day that he was gay. So uhh sorry." He smiled and turned back to the TV show.

"Gee thanks for the help." Riku huffed and grabbed his coat, heading out the door of their house. Riku's parents, Riku and Demyx (and Demyx's fish named Strawberry) all lived under the same roof even though Demyx wasn't really blood related. Riku's mom had taken him in when his mom had run off with a man and never came back. Demyx never knew his father and had been teased all the time in elementary school that his mom was a prostitute. Half the kids back then didn't even know what the word meant and they still used it! She hasn't had and contact with Demyx whatsoever since that time, 4 years ago. And although Demyx and Riku didn't always act like they got along, they were as close as brothers.

"I'll be back Dem I want to see if I can do anything to fix this…" Riku sighed and grabbed his house keys, walking out into the sunny but chilly day. Demyx just waved a hand after him and went back to cheering on Elise even though he knew she didn't win.

Curse you, Tyra Banks.

He walked down the street trying to think of something to say that would get the brunette to talk to him. He was so scared that Sora would reject him for just that one little kiss and that he'd never get his chance with him.

He didn't realize how fast he'd really been walking until he reached the Strife house that was at least four blocks away in about eight minutes. He hesitated at the doorbell, having second thoughts, but managed to pull himself together and ring it. He heard someone running to the door from the stairs and it was cautiously opened by a smiling Sora. When he saw it was Riku, he opened the door farther but his smile faded just a bit.

"Riku. Hi."

"Hey… Look, we need to talk." Sora glanced down. "Can we talk?"

"Now?"

"Yeah."

"Okay talk." He leaned against the doorframe and looked up at the silver-haired teen expectantly.

"Ok I'll just say it right now. I know I kissed you at the party and I know that you didn't like it but I was hoping to still be friends with you…" He took a step back, away from the front door.

Sora looked at the tree in the front yard and at something more. After a minute of silence he looked up at Riku. "We're friends already. I'm the one who should be apologizing after ignoring you. It's just that you confuse me. Like a lot…" He frowned at the ground.

Riku blinked. "That came out of nowhere."

Sora looked up and almost smiled. "Well, I do have to go. Vincent is upstairs and he's letting me make him all emo looking! Even if he's already kinda emo looking… I think that Cloud bribed him to stay here and keep me company. Otherwise, he'd never let me do this. So bye!" Sora pranced back into the house, closing the door behind him without waiting for Riku's reply once again.

Riku smiled. "Bye Sora." He turned and walked back to his house. He was overjoyed that Sora was still on good terms with him. And what's more, Sora had said some things that gave him hope about the future in his currently pathetic excuse of a love life.

**0o0o0o**

break from Akuroku. Good or bad break, I'm not so sure but nonetheless it's here. This chapter is considerably smaller than the previous as well

Haha I wanted Elise to win so badly in the first season of America's Next Top Model. Tyra is idiotic in my opinion but whatever. I know, I'm biased. TT

Word wants me to change 'emo' to 'meow' or 'ego'…

Be nice!!


	18. Yea, I'm His Boyfriend

◆**18◆ **Yea I'm his boyfriend

"C'mon Rude! Let's go stalk someone!" Reno was tracing circles in the back of Rude's plain head. They had been sitting in the house all day and since Axel was occupied, they wanted to do something fun. It wasn't like Reno's brother hung out 24/7 at the apartment but still, they wanted to have something to do just themselves.

"Fine, we'll go stalk someone. But who?" Rude sighed. He could tell this was going to be a long day.

"Umm well, we can't stalk any of Axel's friends since they'd get all crazy and pissy and then Axy would blame me for stalking them." He stuck his tongue out. "We can't stalk anyone from college since they're all away for the winter break." Reno and Rude did go to college, they just didn't dorm there and didn't exactly enjoy talking about it. "Hmm maybe we could go to the mall and see who we can stalk that we know there…" He poked Rude's head. "Ok?"

"Sure but nothing too illegal ok?"

"Uhuh." Reno smirked and pulled his boyfriend out of the house, into Rude's car and to the mall. They looked around the gigantic place for at least forty minutes but then decided to just wait in the food court. Rude got them some drinks and they sat.

"I wonder why we haven't found a single person we know here…" Reno slurped on his strawberry smoothie. "I mean, sure it's a break but still. There ought to be somebody here, zo to."

"…" Rude looked around the semi-empty food court. He spotted a silver-haired teen that looked familiar and pointed him out. Reno looked over at the kid and his face lit up.

"O! That's Sethy…Sexy…Sally? I forgot his name but he's a year above Axel and he said he was really annoying and a bit scary. The perfect person to stalk!" He grabbed Rude's hand and pulled him to the kid's table, sloshing the drinks on the way.

Sephiroth looked up. "Umm hello?" He was sitting alone with some rather cold-looking Chinese food.

"YO! I'm Reno and this is my boyfriend Rude!" He poked Rude. "Yea he doesn't take much to new people… Anyway, my little brother Axel is in your school."

"Uhh yea, I think he's a grade below me…" Sephiroth eyed the two guys in front of him. "Not to be mean but what do you need? I'm not lending munny…"

"I wanted to stalk somebody today and the lucky person is you! Don't you feel special?" Wtf?

"Ok… I'm boring though so you're wasting your time."

"Ha! Time! Rude and I don't have anywhere better to be!" Rude looked at him. He was really energetic and happy today. Maybe he had gotten into something. Rat poison perhaps?

"Ok have fun stalking me then." The silver-haired teen went back to eating his Chinese food.

Reno and Rude stared at him.

He took a bite out of an egg roll.

Reno and Rude stared at him.

He slurped his coke.

Reno and Rude stared at him.

He looked up at the couple.

Reno and Rude stared at him.

"What?"

"Do you have any crushes or a love life?" Not that the question was out of the blue or anything.

"Why?"

"Because you're all alone and look depressed." Rude spoke up.

"Well I do have a crush for your information."

"Who's the lucky person?" Reno sat up straighter.

"I just met you! Why would I tell you of all people?"

"Umm because I'm here?"

"…"

"Please? I won't tell I promise!" Sephiroth eyed the two guys in front of him. Although he didn't know them other than their names and their affiliation to his school, he felt like he could trust them for some reason.

"Ok fine… I like this guy named Cloud."

"Cloud? Like as in Cloud Strife? Ha my brother's dating his brother, zo to!" Sephiroth blinked.

"Yes as in Cloud Strife."

"O I just remembered something. I think he's taken. I blackmailed Axel into telling me what was going on in the kitchen at our Christmas party and it turned out that Cloud was making out with some guy named Vincent who's visiting from Twilight Town."

"…" Sephiroth blinked twice. "What does he look like?"

"Black hair as long as yours and reddish eyes and he's as tall as you and he looks a bit creepy but I dunno. Didn't talk to him. He was kinda quiet-hey where are you going?"

Sephiroth was already standing and grabbing his bag. "I might see you sometime else but go stalk someone else for now. Bye." He turned and sauntered out of the food court.

"Now what will we do all day?" Reno crossed his arms and looked at Rude next to him. Rude stuck his tongue out and licked Reno's lips. Reno smirked. "I like your thinking Rude! Let's bust this joint." He grabbed his boyfriend's hand again and went back to the car. Poor car didn't see it coming.

**0o0o0o**

Sephiroth, as much of a stalker he himself could be, knew where Cloud lived. He drove his car up the block toward his house and parked a few houses down. There he waited for his prey. The black-haired man named Vincent. Sephiroth wanted Cloud for himself. He did not want to see Cloud with another man.

He had waited for at least twenty minutes before a man with long black hair walked out of the house and started to go down the street in his direction. Since nobody was following the man he assumed was Vincent, Sephiroth got out of the car and leaned against it until he was closer. He watched him walk towards him and suddenly thought of how beautiful he was. He wasn't fat but not skinny either and his straight hair wasn't greasy looking or ugly on him like it might be on others because of its dark color. Actually, everything about him was perfect! Sephiroth didn't know how he had done it but within five minutes of just walking down the street, this Vincent guy had made him forget about Cloud –at least for the moment- and fall in love with him instead.

Vincent was about to walk by him but Sephiroth pushed himself off of his car and walked up to him. Vincent stopped and looked at him. "Uhh can I help you?" Sephiroth melted.

"I'm in Cloud's class and umm… I forgot why I was here actually…" Sephiroth looked into the man's eyes, which were just at his height.

"O you're one of Cloud's friends? I'm Vincent. I'm visiting him." He stuck out his hand and Sephiroth shook it.

"Hi I'm Sephiroth." And I want to kiss your beautiful face. "Where were you headed?"

"O I was going to just take a walk and get away from Sora. He's such a pain sometimes. Would you like to uhh come with?"

Yes! "Sure if that's all right."

"Yea c'mon." They started to walk down the sidewalk next to each other. "So I forgot, why were you here again?"

"Well do you really want to know the truth?"

"Yes."

"I was here because I heard Cloud had a boyfriend. I had a crush on him and I wanted to see if it were true…" Vincent looked over at him.

"Yea, I'm his boyfriend. But what do you mean 'had' a crush? You still don't have it?"

"…No."

"Then how'd you loose it?"

"I saw you…" Vincent blinked was this guy flirting with him or just pulling his leg? Sure, he was a hot guy but he and Cloud had something. "Ok well, I've got to get going so give this number to Cloud and tell him to call them." He handed Vincent a slip of paper with a phone number on it. Apparently they had been walking really fast because they had already gone around the block and were back at his car.

"Yea… I'll uhh give it to him…" Vincent watched the car speed away. Should I really give him another guy's phone number? He waved it off and stuffed the paper into his pant pocket. Jumping, he turned around.

"Hey Vince." Cloud hugged him briefly. "Whatcha do today?" He looked up at Vincent.

"Nothing much. Sora put eyeliner on me and gave me funny hair but I took it out… That's it really."

"Cool." They walked into the house.

"Hey why don't you like Axel?"

"Where'd that come from?"

"I don't know but why don't you?"

"Dunno… He's just so hard to trust for me. He's been around Roxas since the very first day of school and I don't know… He just doesn't seem good enough for Roxas. Why'd you ask?"

"Because whenever Axel's around I can feel your weird hate vibe directly going to him."

Cloud laughed. "Yeah, weird hate vibe."

Vincent went the rest of the day normally but when he was lying in bed, he thought of Sephiroth. He didn't know anything about the other teen but he already liked him. Only as a friend like though.

…Right?

**0o0o0o**

I can so see Reno stalking someone.

I apologize in advance for the _next_ chapter.

**DISCLAIMER: **If I actually owned KH2, it would definitely **_NOT _**end with Sora and Kairi looking at each other like they were deeply in love. No, instead Riku would have been in (coughidioticcough) Kairi's place, not standing on the side being molested by Mickey Mouse.

… yes, I do _dislike_ Kairi with a rather large passion.

Sorry Kairi fans for the character bashing on my part but I do.


	19. This 'Chapter' is Lame

◆**19◆ **This Chapter is Lame

Roxas turned up Axel's truck radio.

"What if I wanted to break, laugh it all off in your face. What would you do? O o o o. What if I fell to the floor? Couldn't take this anymore. What would you do do do? Come, break me down. Bury me, bury me, I am finished with you. What if I wanted to fight? Beg for the rest of my life? What would you do do do? You say you wanted more. What are you waiting for? I'm not running from you from you. Come, break me down. Bury me, bury me. I am finished with you. Look in my eyes; you're killing me, killing me! All I wanted was you! I tried to be someone else, but nothing seemed to change, I know now, this is who I really am inside. I finally found myself, but it's…" Roxas was all smiley while he sang.

"So uhh, what about the rest of it?" Axel was driving again back to Roxas' house. They were coming back from the store after spending 5 whole munny on about 20 packs of gum and then seeing how much they could fit in their mouths at once and still be able to chew. Axel won by a long shot.

"Heh I got stuck there and I never really pick up songs once I get stuck… I know the end though!"

"Do you like 30 Seconds to Mars?"

"Love 'em." Roxas smiled. "Do you?"

"They're ok. I mean, they're not my favorite but they are pretty good. I'm surprised you of all people like them." He smirked.

"Why?" Roxas was confused.

"You just seem like someone who would like hip-hop to me. Guess we never got to talking about music much."

"Guess not. I like rock and alternative mostly but small doses of hip-hop are ok. Can't stand R&B or soul though. You?"

"Me, I'm more of an all around music person. But I do have tendencies to stay away from extremely heavy metal and rap."

"Most definitely."

The rest of the fifteen-minute car ride they sang all the songs on the radio. Well, at least the ones that they knew. Axel was a pretty bad singer but Roxas was much better and could actually carry a substantial tune. When he pulled up to the Strife house, he dropped his boyfriend off in the driveway and drove home with a goodbye kiss.

Whoa…

**0o0o0o **

As said before, I **APOLOGIZE** (notice bold, underline, caps lock) for this lame chapter (for lack of better words).

This was way back in November/December 2006 that I wrote it so yeah. That would be the time that I loved the band so much but now, 30STM has been replaced by My Chemical Romance, Glay, and Taking Back Sunday (as well as many other favorites but those are tops right now)…

_Gomene _


	20. The Struggle

◆**20◆ **The Struggle

Roxas walked into the house. Sora and Cloud had taken his friends out for the second half of the day and would spend the night over in a hotel near the beach. Roxas had wanted to go along but Cloud had insisted that after the whole 'coming out' thing that his friends might fair a little better if they were away for a day.

He grabbed a bag of chips and a glass of water and fell into the couch. He flipped on the TV and found his favorite channel, which currently had an old episode of ER on. So the show was particularly old and most of the people he knew either never heard of it, never watched it or hated it but he still loved it. It was actually kind of ironic since he spent so much time in bandages. This episode was a Christmas one and he remembered it because he felt so sad for Dr. Green since he got a puppy for his daughter but her new dad had gotten some dogs for her as well.

He was well into the episode when someone barreled into the front door. He looked up, surprised and put down the chips and water. He looked at the man who was stumbling about and figured out it was really his dad. James looked rather confused.

"Dad?" Roxas got up from the couch and slowly walked over to the man. He turned around and when he saw who it was, his face contorted with anger. Before he could pull away, James lashed out, punching Roxas' jaw. Roxas recoiled in pain, stumbling back a few paces. "What was that for Dad?" Ow, that hurt!

"You killed her. You killed 'er! Because of you my Tifa is gone!" He slurred.

"Dad where is this coming from?" Roxas was stunned at his Dad's sudden outburst.

"You're not good fer anything!" He punched Roxas shoulder, hard and Roxas took a couple more steps back until he hit the wall.

"Dad! Stop it! I didn't do anything wrong!" Then he noticed the almost empty beer bottle in his father's other hand. "Have you been drinking?"

"How dare you! I'ma not drunk!" He looked at the bottle and took a swig. Then he glanced at the cowardly boy in front of him. Roxas was shaking a little. James frowned angrily. He raised his fist again as if to strike and Roxas closed his eyes and seemed to shrink but instead of hitting him again, he raised the beer bottle and threw it at his son. It shattered in impact somewhere on Roxas' chest. He cried out and sunk to the floor.

His shirt was all ripped where the glass bottle had broken and he could feel at least one cut bleeding a little. He clutched the wound and looked up at his dad. "What are you doing Dad?" James advanced toward him but didn't speak. "Dad!" He punched Roxas in the stomach twice and his son cried out. "Stop! Please stop! It hurts!" James just punched him again in the stomach, harder than the other times and Roxas collapsed on the floor. He was shaking badly and on the verge of tears. He blinked twice up at his dad. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you killed Tifa and yer a fag and you have no right to be my son anymore!" He was shouting.

"..." Roxas was starting to cry and his dad kicked him.

"Don't cry you sissy!" He kicked him again when he didn't stop crying. Roxas managed to choke back his tears then and look warily back up at his father. Blood was starting to stain his shirt. "Don't even think about telling anyone about this! I know who yer friends are like the redhead and that silver-haired kid. I don't care if they got hurt." With that he stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Roxas stayed tucked in his ball for a couple minutes, taking everything in then managed to uncurl himself and pick up the shards of green glass and throw them out. Then he went to the bathroom and pulled off his shirt, revealing some scratches and one rather deep cut. He cringed when he touched it and poured the first antibiotic he found in the medicine cupboard on it. The deep cut was still bleeding a little but he washed off the beer smell then bandaged it. He sauntered to his bedroom and collapsed on his bed.

He didn't understand anything that had just happened. His dad had come out of nowhere and started to beat him up for no apparent reason and then had left just as randomly as he had come. Well, he had blamed Tifa's death on Roxas and he had accused him of being a fag. But why had he beaten him up so forcefully? And how did he even find out he was gay? Unless, that was just a guess...? Whenever his dad had gotten angry before, he would go lock himself in his room to do whatever he did until he calmed down enough to come out. He hadn't ever seen his dad drunk either.

Fuck, his own _father _had just abused him.

He curled up into a ball and fingered the medical tape on his chest. He couldn't tell anyone. He assumed his father had meant Axel and Riku when he said the redhead and the silver-haired teens. If he ever did anything to them it really would be his, Roxas', fault. He fell asleep, curled into a ball and didn't have a single good dream.

**0o0o0o**

Early because my computer almost crashed and it got me worried.

The whole abuse thing… right. Well, I just can't picture James coming home and being all happy after he lost his wife. It's just the way I made his character a couple months ago.

I promise the story will be lighter again. Not next chapter but it will be happy again.

((hides in corner))


	21. A Beautiful Lie

◆**21◆ **A Beautiful Lie

It was the first day back at school. The visitors from Twilight Town had left and although Ollette had made up with him, Hayner was especially still angry with Roxas. He didn't even say goodbye at the airport. Pence was a little better but Roxas could tell he was faking half of his positive actions towards him. Cloud and Vincent had left each other at the airport, happy to be back with each other, but Vincent was still wondering about Sephiroth and Cloud was still hating the long-distance relationship.

One night before, his father visited Roxas again, the second day in a row. He was still mad at Roxas and blamed him for his wife's death again. The older blond had another half-empty bottle of an undeterminable alcohol in his hand though so Roxas still wasn't sure if he really meant it. James had told him again that if he told anyone about this that he'd do something to one of his friends and since Roxas didn't want Axel to be hurt, he hadn't told anyone as of yet.

As much as this decision was hurting him, Roxas felt like he had a duty.

"And then I'm all like 'Riku, why do you have a pink bow in your hair' and he's all like 'because it's pretty'. And then he put his hands on his hips and stuck his tongue out and that's how he got his name! Isn't that right Bitch?" Demyx was telling the story animatedly and had the whole table laughing. Riku, on the other hand, was blushing madly next to Sora and glaring at Demyx.

"It was pretty…" He mumbled and that made Sora just laugh even more.

Roxas half-heartedly laughed a little but stopped laughing and turned his head to look out the window. He hadn't been liking the day at all because all he could think about was James and why he had done what he'd done and if he'd do it again. It didn't help that he had some itchy bandages wrapped around his chest that he could feel with every breath either. Axel looked over at him and stopped laughing himself.

"Hey what's wrong Roxy?" Immediate concern.

Roxas kept his eyes outside. "Nothing."

Axel rubbed his back. "Stop being stubborn. What's wrong? You've been distracted all day." He stopped rubbing when he felt something under his shirt. It felt like another shirt but why would it be so small if it was another shirt? Plus it was only in one area… Roxas tensed up.

"Something's been bugging me but I really don't want to talk about it ok?" Roxas turned to him with almost cold eyes.

"Yeah…ok." Axel looked down at him for a few more seconds but then turned back to Demyx on his other side. Something was up with his boyfriend and he was going to find out but he had to be careful because when Roxas was upset, he could be really messed up in all other aspects of his life.

**0o0o0o**

On the drive home (because Axel always drove Roxas to and from school now), he tried to ask him again but failed miserably. Now, since he still hadn't told him in the privacy of his car, Axel knew something was _really_ wrong. He dropped him off at his driveway like usual and went home, promising himself he'd figure it out within the week.

**0o0o0o**

"Roxas go get the door! We're busy!" Cloud called down the stairs to his little brother. He was helping Sora with his homework in his bedroom and Roxas was downstairs being lazy yet again.

"Yeah, yeah I'm going." Roxas pulled himself off of the couch and walked to the door, wrenching it open lazily. He was about to say hello but he stopped and took a step back.

"Hello Roxas." James stepped through the door and closed it behind him. Roxas took a few steps back and James glanced at him. "What? No hug for Dad?" He smacked him and Roxas stepped back. When Roxas didn't say anything or cry out, he punched his stomach. That made him cover his stomach but it didn't help that James punched him more in the same area. The punches strayed to his ribs and he fell over, yelling in pain. He hit a rib that had been broken recently and still hurt sometimes without the help of physical force.

"Roxas what's- o my god! CLOUD!" Sora was at the top of the stairs. Cloud rushed out of Sora's bedroom and when he saw what was going on, he jumped down the stairs two at a time. Sora stayed petrified at the top, clinging to the banister with shaky hands. James had moved to kicking Roxas' side a couple times since he was curled up on the floor against the wall.

"Dad!" Cloud grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away but his dad just slapped his face. Cloud stumbled back and heard Roxas start to cry painfully when James started to kick him again.

"Don't cry you sissy!" He kicked again and Roxas covered his mouth and eyes with white hands. Cloud grabbed his arm again and pulled him away from his vulnerable brother with all his strength. Taken aback by Cloud's sudden energy, James let him be pulled to the front door and shoved out. Cloud bolted it behind him and ran to the kitchen to lock the back door as well.

Sora jumped down the stairs and ran to his twin, sitting down next to him. Roxas was shaking on the floor, still curled up but very quiet. He reached out to his brother but the blond just flinched at the touch. "Roxas…" Sora stared at him, unable to do anything and Cloud hurried back into the room and sighed.

"Roxas sit up." Cloud pulled his little brother out of his ball and sat him up against the wall. He had to be the big brother after all. Roxas blinked a couple times at him. "Roxas what just happened?"

"How should I know?" Roxas managed to stammer out. He was still very shaken up.

"Roxas are you ok?" Sora scooted closer to his blond twin.

"I really don't know… I hurt everywhere but mostly up here." He patted his head.

"Has he done this before?" Cloud pulled his brother into his lap and hugged him, trying to be careful because of the bruises.

"Twice."

"Twice! Roxas, we need to get help!" Sora climbed into his big brother's lap as well.

"You can't tell anybody about this though!" Roxas pulled away a little and looked between the two of them.

"Why not? He was _abusing_ you Roxas! That's a crime! We have to tell someone!"

"But he said not to tell people because he knows who Axel and Riku are and that he'd do something to them if I told anyone…" He buried his face between his brothers and sighed.

Sora hugged him and looked up at Cloud. "What are we going to do Cloud?"

Cloud frowned into blond hair. Everything was falling apart and he felt like he couldn't do a thing. He was the oldest brother and he could take care of himself. But now that his mom was gone and his dad was not acting like himself at all, he had to be able to take care of himself and his brothers. That was a hard thing for a high school student to do. Especially when everything was happening all at once. He didn't even have a job yet!

"Sora we can't let Roxas be alone at home in case he comes back. I'm the only one who's going to be answering the door from now on and we have to keep them locked at all times. We're not going to tell anyone but if this gets worse, we're going to have to." Roxas sighed and clung onto his twin.

"I feel like sleeping…" Cloud managed to carry his beaten little brother up the stairs and tucked him into his bed. He went back downstairs and tried to get comfortable on the couch but was too worried about what was going to happen next that he ended up going back upstairs and sleeping next to his brother. Sora attempted to finish his homework but was couldn't concentrate on the English assignment and looked around for Cloud. When he couldn't find him, he went to check on Roxas and instead found Cloud as well. He wanted to be there too so he tucked himself under the covers next his twin. He sighed and closed his eyes.

Cloud couldn't help but feel like he just made a big mistake.

**0o0o0o**

meh, gomen for the late updates, I was winning a netball tournament

okies I know, horrid but I swear it'll get better soon. Not next chappy but soon ! stick with me plzzzzzz

I'm not sure if anybody lives in Japan like me but if you do, are you planning on going to TAF? I am and I hate how they aren't allowing cosplay… X

**DISCLAIMER::** I own nothing except Jimmy Miller, James and the right to say I am a freakin natural at ice skating. (( is shot ))


	22. My Life is Just a Black Abyss

◆**22◆ **My life is just a black abyss, you know, it's so dark

Roxas woke up early the next morning to find his brothers in bed with him. He was startled at first but then the day before came rushing back to him. O, right… Cloud felt him shuffle, trying to get untangled from Sora and blinked his eyes open.

"Morning Roxas." Cloud sat up and stretched then crawled out of bed. "Sora get up." He pulled on a brown spike.

"Oww huh? O morning people!" Sora rubbed the sleep from his eyes and jumped out of bed. Always the energetic one.

"Food." Roxas on the other hand, was always the grumpy one in the morning.

"Alright, alright. Come downstairs and I'll put a Poptart in or something." Cloud shuffled out of the room and Sora trailed after him.

Roxas was quiet most of the day just greeting his friends and having brief conversations with some of them. He was so much more silent than normal that even his teachers took notice.

"Roxas! Are you sleeping? I asked you a question and I want an answer." Mr. Luxord tapped on Roxas' desk. He was looking out the window and watching cars go by.

"Huh? O-o right, umm. 25?" Roxas briefly looked at the board and took a guess.

"No the answer was 813! For that you get extra math homework today! Have fun." Mr. Luxord screeched, walking back to the front and started to teach again.

Roxas watched him talking for a minute or two but his eyes soon glazed over and wandered back to the outside world. He was bored with school. He wanted to be anywhere else that would be even the tiniest bit more interesting than this place. His mind was elsewhere- to the last couple days and he needed a distraction. He knew he needed to do something to get his mind off of _that_- at least during school- and to pay more attention to everything going on but it seemed impossible. The bell rang and he grabbed his work, shoving it into his black backpack. He hurried out of the classroom before he had to talk to anybody- because nobody he was really a friend with was in that class with him anyway- and met Axel outside of the door. How the redhead was always there never failed to perplex him.

"Hey." They started to walk down the hall to lunch.

"Hey yourself. What's up with you lately? I need to know and don't say 'I don't want to talk about it' either." Axel watched Roxas' annoyed – but still cute - expression.

"But I really don't-"

"Roxas! Why can't you talk to me?" He frowned deeply.

"I can always talk to you and you know that!" Roxas looked up to his eyes, about a head taller but had to look away because of just how sad Axel really looked. "I just… can't this time."

"That makes no sense."

"It does but I can't explain why it does."

"I'll ask your brothers."

"They won't tell you anything either." Axel blinked.

"Why not?"

"Because I can't talk about it, that's why." He pushed open the cafeteria doors and grabbed a tray.

"…I'll find out sooner or later whether you like it or not." Axel grabbed a sandwich from the counter and tossed it on his tray.

"You probably will but you won't today." Roxas reached for the last bag of chips.

"…" Axel paid for his food and followed Roxas to the table that Demyx and Riku were sitting at. Cloud sat a couple tables away with his friends and Sora was still in the lunch queue.

Roxas ate his food silently and Axel shot worried glances at him every once in a while but still paying attention to what Demyx was currently talking about. He was always talking, wasn't he?

"And then, Zexy said that he'd love to go out with me someday if I wanted and of course I said yes! Isn't that great?" Demyx was all smiles. Sora plopped into a space next to Riku at the table.

"Wonderful, Demyx is dating a psycho." Riku smirked.

"He is not psycho! Just misunderstood." Demyx crossed his arms and Axel chuckled. Mr. Mohawk glared at him and then saw Roxas staring blankly at the overflowing trashcan. "Hey, cheer up emo kid!" Demyx unfolded his arms and smiled brightly.

Roxas turned to face him. "O but why when it's my specialty?" He almost smiled.

Demyx stared at him for a second then started to laugh. Riku snickered and Sora didn't get it – that seemed to happen often. Axel smiled.

He dropped Roxas off at his house after school that day without being able to pry his trouble out of him. He did, however, manage to make him smile and even laugh before the day ended.

**0o0o0o**

Roxas slept easy the next five nights and people took notice. By the third day without seeing his dad again, Roxas was back to being his normal self. He paid attention in class and said more than two words to his friends. 'Hi' and 'bye' had been getting quite old. Cloud and Sora were feeling much better since their brother was but Cloud was still wary about James. He was definitely less worried than he used to be about their dad visiting but there was still a hint of doubt that he would stay away for long.

Cloud walked down the stairs to find Roxas and Sora watching a movie on the couch. "Hey guys, that was Aerith on the phone." He glanced at the TV and shuddered. "Why the hell are you guys watching some Barbie movie?"

Roxas blinked up at him. "I swear it's not me."

"Hey! So-ry I can't stand all these horror movies they always run this late!" Sora crossed his arms.

"Uhh yeah, anyways, that was Aerith on the phone and she invited me to the beach tomorrow. Leon and Yuffie are going too and I think I'm going to go."

"But what about Dad? I'm going to the movies from 1 to around 3..." Sora looked up at Cloud.

"O you are?"

"Yeah."

"Ok well I would be getting back around 3:30… That leaves Roxas alone here for like two and a half hours…" Cloud sighed. "I really think that we can leave you here but will you be ok?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be ok…"

"Cloud! I don't want to leave him here yet! I'll stay home from the movies then…"

"No Sora, you go. Roxas, I can't believe I'm actually saying this but could you get Axel to come over or something?" Cloud frowned.

"Finally starting to like him?" Roxas smirked.

"Far from it."

"Whatever, I'll do something with him. It'll be a Saturday anyways…"

"Good. Now uhh, tell me, why exactly is Barbie talking to a purple dragon?"

**0o0o0o**

ever have one of those days when you're flipping channels and everything's really, really, REALLY crappy or you just hate whatevers on so you resort to watching little kid shows? Yeah… well, personally, I'm prone to making fun of Teletubbis (or whatever sp…), the new Pokemon shows and Barbie movies.

I understand criticism and 'I dislike this please write differently' or something but don't be too cruel (( ))


	23. Savior

◆**23◆ **Savior

"Hey gimme back my ice cream!" Roxas reached. Axel had taken his Blue raspberry ice cream bar from him and was currently eating it. Roxas seemed to have some sort of addiction to blue ice cream.

"Mmmmm so good." Axel smirked back at him and took another bite of the blue goodness while driving his truck.

"…" Roxas crossed his arms and stared at him. "I still don't get why you didn't get yourself an ice cream if you're now eating mine."

"Just another good thing about me! I keep you from not being obese!" He ruffled Roxas hair.

"I thought you said I was too skinny."

"Yeah well you're easier to carry around when you're not fat." Roxas rolled his eyes.

Axel pulled into the driveway.

"Ok if I'm not out in like six minutes, come in and get me." Roxas started to climb out.

"What are you getting again anyways?"

"I need to grab my wallet and go to the bathroom and stuff." He hopped out of the car and walked up to the front door. Roxas opened it and walked in. The blond never did like to lock the door when he went out, it was a hassle and the neighborhood was one of those really 'safe neighborhood' blocks. You know the kind, the ones with the big yellow triangles with a policeman on it.

He climbed the stairs and went to the bathroom, fixing his hair on the way. Roxas never had been one to fret over his hair or his wardrobe but going out with Axel always made him feel like he should look good. After all, even though they were boyfriends, they didn't go out on what would be considered a 'date' too often. The two mostly stayed around their own homes or hung out at school. Three minutes later he was walking down the stairs with his wallet and then past the kitchen. Something moved in the kitchen that caught his eye. He took a step back and looked into the tiled room.

"Axel?" He took a step in and the next thing he knew he was on the floor. He blinked his eyes open. He saw his nightmare standing over him and tried to get up but was pushed roughly back down by a black boot on his recently-healed chest.

"Who's Axel, Roxas?"

"They're nobody- ju-just my imaginary friend." Roxas was scared as ever but now more was at stake. More than his own wellbeing that is. If James ever found out who Axel really was, who knows what he'd do. But then, Roxas still had hope and really believed that his dad was drunk whenever he hit him and accused him of things. The old James would never hurt anyone. Hell, he didn't even like to watch people get hurt on TV.

The boot kicked his side repeatedly and Roxas curled into a ball, choking back noises. "Sure just an _imaginary_ friend! Just like it's my imagination that you killed Tifa! You did kill Tifa!" He added a kick to Roxas' face and took a swig from the green bottle, ignoring his son's desperate clawing at his face. Roxas waited for the next impact anxiously. If he didn't respond maybe his Dad would just go away. "Get up boy! You're not that hurt!" He dragged Roxas up by his shoulders and pinned him against one of the kitchen's tan walls. "Why'd you kill 'er boy?"

"I didn't kill my mom!" Roxas was on the verge of tears. He didn't kill his mom! He didn't! She was always so loving and good to him. Why would he ever think of even hurting her?

"Liar!" James punched his stomach but held him firmly to the wall. "You fucking killed my wife and I'll never forgive you!" He raised the hand with the glass bottle in it and Roxas didn't have enough time to move his head away before it smashed onto his face with what felt like the strength of a whole circus tent of elephants. James released him and Roxas crumpled, slouched on the ground. His vision was blurry and he could faintly feel blood on the right side of his face. His head was pounding and he had the start of a horrible headache- he could barely hear anything but the everlasting pounding in his ears. The smell of beer was all around him and it made him even dizzier than he was with just the wounds. He closed his eyes.

James stared down at him unblinking. "You know the 'rules'." With that, he turned and stalked out of the front door.

Axel was just about to get out of his truck to go in to see what the hold up was but he saw the door open instead. Expecting his boyfriend, he was startled to find an angry man walking out of the house. The man was tall and skinny- at least 6 feet tall- and had short blond hair with longer sideburns that hit his shoulders and dark blue eyes. He could've looked quite handsome except he was scowling and walking stiffly. Almost instinctively Axel ducked so he was hidden and waited until he couldn't hear his rather loud footsteps anymore. He rushed out of his car and up the front steps, not expecting what to find inside. Who was that scary guy and why the hell was he in Roxas' house? He pulled open the door and shut it behind him. "Roxas?" No reply. "Roxas?" He walked into the living room but stopped when he heard something. It sounded like a …moan? "Roxy, where are you?" He turned to the kitchen and gasped. Roxas was collapsed against the opposite wall and he didn't look good at all. "Roxas!" He ran over to his boyfriend.

Roxas groaned lightly and raised his head, revealing a bloody face. Axel paled. He could strongly smell the blood and beer. "Roxas…What happened?" Axel moved closer, pushing some broken glass away with his feet. He moved his hand up and gingerly touched the little cuts on the left side of Roxas' face. Luckily there weren't any major cuts - just a ton of little ones with some shards of glass stuck in here and there. Roxas flinched at the contact and blinked open his eyes.

"Ow."

"Yeah, ow. What happened? And who the hell was that guy?" Roxas flinched when Axel's voice just caused the pounding to get louder.

"…" Roxas blinked away. "Dad."

"Your dad did this to you? O my god was this what's been bugging you and you said you couldn't tell? How long has this been going on? This is abuse!" Axel grabbed some paper towels and wet them in the sink. He dabbed at the ugly bloodied face, avoiding the cuts.

"Yes… He's done it three times before." Roxas cringed at the cold water that seemed to make his headache even worse.

"What? Three times? That's crazy! Why haven't you told anyone? Do your brothers even know?"

Ow! Again with the yelling! I do have a head injury you know.

"Yeah they know. But I really… couldn't tell anyone! He knows yours and Riku's face… he said he'd do something… to you guys if I told!"

"… You protected me even though you were getting hurt? Roxy…" Roxas blushed and looked away.

"…"

"Alright, c'mon. Can you walk?" Axel got up and held out his hand. Roxas meekly took it and Axel pulled him up. He took a few wobbly steps but ended up using the counter for support. "Don't be stubborn and hear me out." He picked Roxas up and carried him to the couch bridal-style. "Come stay at my place for a little while. At least tonight but then as long as you want. I wouldn't be able to sleep if you were in this house tonight." Roxas blinked. "Deal?"

"Deal. But I need a change of clothes then…" He answered without hesitation.

"Good. I'll go get them." Axel jumped up the stairs and dug around in Roxas' draws until he found a pair of dark pants, some boxers and an almost white shirt. He quickly wrote a note to Cloud and Sora.

_It's Axel. Roxas got beat up by your Dad. He's coming to my place. Call me when you get in. _

He stuck the Post-It note up on Cloud's bedroom door and climbed down the stairs with the clothes. Roxas was looking barely alive, his eyes half-lidded and clutching the now slightly pink paper towels to his face. "Roxy…" Axel frowned and picked up his boyfriend, taking him to the truck. Within five minutes of driving, Roxas was fast asleep in the passenger seat. The redhead sincerely prayed he wasn't passed out.

**0o0o0o**

T o T I swear this is second-to-last chapter with this kind of thing in it.

On another note, TAF was amazing, everyone who likes anime should get the chance to go there once in their lives because it was so great. I got a bunch of Naruto and Bleach (omg Shuhei) stuff and other random things. Everything was reasonably priced to. Even the Loveless anime cell I wanted but didn't have 25,500 yen ($255.00 USD) on me….

DISCLAIMER:: I own nothing really in this except James, Jimmy Miller and this Shuuhei poster that's so very pretty…

Title: Savior by 30 Seconds To Mars


	24. Dark Water

◆**24◆ **Dark Water

The sky was bright, cloudless blue. There were only a few scattered beach-goers since the air was still a bit chilly. For the most part though, it was a perfect day for going to the beach, even if the tourists thought it wasn't.

"Aww c'mon Cloudy!" Yuffie threw her arms around the neck of whom she had now claimed as her big brother. "You've got to change into your trunks!" For it was true, Cloud was sitting on the sandy beach in his swim trunks (plain light blue) and a t-shirt while Yuffie and Aerith were in bikinis (Yuffie black and Aerith pink of course) and Leon was wearing trunks (they had a dark blue wave pattern on them).

Cloud sighed. "But I'll mess up my perfectly colored torso!" He folded his arms on his chest defensively. Aerith – who was sitting next to him - turned her head.

"And what good is it if it's perfectly colored and nobody ever sees it?" Aerith asked. Leon walked over from Aerith's car with an extra beach towel.

"Le-on, make Cloudy take off his shirt! He won't take it off!" Yuffie let go of Cloud's neck and sat behind him.

"Uhh let Cloud do what he wants." _Why are they asking me anyways?_

"Thank you." Cloud smiled gratefully and looked up at him but kept his eyes from wandering from anywhere other than his face. Something about Leon always drew him in since the beginning of school and he wasn't sure about what to do with that feeling since he knew Leon was straight.

"Aer-ith!" Yuffie really wanted to see why Cloud was hiding himself, and now she was getting really curious about why he was so stubborn.

"I'll give you ten bucks to keep your shirt off at the beach today."

Cloud pulled out his wallet and an evil butterfly flew out of it, cackling as it darted away. He mentally sweat-dropped. "Deal." He quickly pulled his shirt off over his head and threw it to the side. Before anybody could even think of getting a good look at him though, his legs were folded against his chest and his arms were around them. He looked at Yuffie and stuck his tongue out. She 'hmphed' and crossed her arms.

"Race you to the ocean." She jumped up and pulled Cloud out of his ball. He let himself be awkwardly dragged along the beach to the water and thrown under by his little sister. The blond stood up in the neck-deep water, spluttering, his spiky hair so wet that that it almost looked like a blond version of Leon's it was so straight. He narrowed his eyes at the laughing Aerith and Leon standing about ten feet away in the shallows.

"Cloud, you look like Leon!" Aerith giggled.

"…" Leon covered a laugh with his hand. He really couldn't see the resemblance but it was funny the girls did.

"Cloudy you're so cute!" Yuffie flew out of nowhere and tackled Cloud underwater. He pushed her off and stood back up, running toward the shore.

Leon blinked and stopped laughing. Cloud's body was perfectly colored. Not tan but not gothic-pale either. He could see faint traces of some abs but not overly prominent.

_Wait…_

Why exactly was he looking at him so much? Cloud stopped when he reached Aerith and hid behind her.

"Ahh no, _please_ Yuffie!" Yuffie ran up behind him and bear hugged him from behind. She ruffled his hair and the freaky natural spikes started to come back up. "Gah get off!" Cloud pushed her off and self-consciously crossed his arms over his chest.

"Ok c'mon Yuffie, come with me and comb the beach for shells and stuff." Aerith grabbed her hand and dragged her along the shoreline to save Cloud. The boys watched them go.

Cloud took a step into the shallow water and looked out over the ocean. Leon stood the same but looked down at the blond instead. He tried not to stare but he ended up doing so anyway. He blinked when a smile crept onto Cloud's face.

"You know, Leon, the way you're looking at me, someone might think you were the gay one." Cloud kept smiling at the sea.

"What? No! No, I'm not gay!" Leon spluttered out, his hands shooting up to protest.

"Defensive, defensive." Cloud smirked up at him and dropped his arms to his sides. He turned and walked back up the beach to a towel Aerith had spread out and plopped down.

"I don't dig guys!" Leon followed him up the beach and sat on the towel next to him. Cloud rested his head on his knees and yawned.

"I couldn't sleep last night so umm wake me up if the world's exploding will you?" He closed his eyes.

"Will do." Leon couldn't figure out how that was a comfortable sleeping position but that was probably the Roxas in Cloud. Even Leon had seen the kid sleeping in the most random places, at the weirdest times. His little twin brothers were something else. He heard something in Cloud's pocket and when Cloud only mumbled incomprehensibly, he quickly reached over and pulled out his ringing cell phone. It was blue –like most of the things Cloud owned- so he suspected the color to be a favorite. He opened it and the screen said 'home'. He looked over at Cloud one more time and figured he really wasn't waking up and he looked so relaxed so he answered it. "Hello?"

"Cloud!" It was Sora's voice but he sounded like he was crying. "Cloud, Dad came back! He beat up Roxas again-" Leon gasped. "-and I found this note on the door that said he was at Axel's and to call him but I'm really scared now because there's blood in the kitchen and in the sink and there's broken glass and it smells funny and Roxas is hurt again because of Dad and he's not here and I don't have Axel's phone number!" Sora started to really cry at the end of his rant.

Leon stared at the phone. What. The. _Fuck._ Cloud's dad was abusive? How could he act so normal? Leon had noticed that Roxas was a little off in school but not so much anymore. He also knew he probably wasn't supposed to hear that. He glanced at the sleeping Cloud. His expression was peaceful and he was smiling a bit. A good dream perhaps?

"Hello? Cloud?" Sora's voice broke the pause.

Leon didn't want to answer him so instead; he tapped Cloud's back. The blond blinked his eyes open.

"Hnn? Did I miss Yuffie being eaten by a shark?" He sat up expectantly.

"Umm here it's Sora. Something's wrong." Leon shoved the phone in Cloud's hand.

"You answered my phone? Nevermind… Sora what's going on?"

"You weren't listening?" He could hear the tears in his voice.

"Sorry I put the phone down for a sec and didn't catch what you said…"

"Cloud, it's Dad! He apparently came back and hurt Roxas and Axel found him and he's over at Axel's now and I don't know if he's ok 'cause I don't have Axel's phone number!" Cloud stared at the sand.

"D-dad came back?" His eyes were wide. Leon sat silently, worried about his friend.

"Yes and there's blood!"

Cloud rubbed his eyes and frowned. "Ok well are the doors locked?"

"Yes."

"Axel's number is … but don't call him right away, I need to call him first."

"Cloud I'm worried."

"Sora just go sit down and take a deep breath ok? We'll figure his out. Love you."

"Love you too, bye."

"Bye." Cloud shut his phone and threw it onto the sand, burying his face in his knees again with his arms wrapped around his head. He sat there for a good five minutes with an awkward Leon silently at his side then lifted his head and grabbed the phone. He found Axel's number and called it.

"Axel here." He sounded tired.

"Axel, it's Cloud. What happened?"

"I was waiting in my car for Roxas but he didn't come out, some guy did and so I went in to find him and I found him in the kitchen. He was beat up pretty badly and he's got some cuts on his face. It was really bad. I mean, he could talk a little but he couldn't walk by himself. I brought him to my place and he's sleeping now." Axel talked calmly but Cloud could tell he was faking some of the calmness.

"Did you clean him up or anything?"

"Yeah, Rude turns out to be studying to be a doctor so he bandaged him up. He says he'll be fine after some rest."

"Ok well is he staying with you or do you want me to come get him."

"I'd feel better if he was here but if you object-"

"No, I think I'd feel better too if he was there. Dad doesn't know your address."

"Cloud, why did he beat Roxas up anyways?"

Cloud sighed. "Roxas said he blamed him for our Mom's death…" Leon blinked.

"Roxas would never kill his mom!" Axel protested.

"We all know that but Roxas also said he always had a beer bottle with him so he thinks he might've been drunk…"

"Well, I'm not going to call anybody and report your Dad or anything since it's your family but what are you guys doing about this? I mean, I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and just watch your family get beaten up for much longer…"

"I'm not sure yet. I need to think things over. I'll uhh, call tomorrow."

"Sure."

"Bye."

"Bye." Axel clicked off his end first.

Cloud slowly shut his phone and threw it back into the unsuspecting sand in front of him. He glanced over at Leon but didn't smile. "How much do you know?"

Leon blinked and looked back at the blond. "I think I know all of it now… Well, Sora told me everything because he thought I was you so yeah…" He scratched the back of his head. Cloud groaned.

"You can't tell anyone. Ok?"

"Why _wouldn't_ I tell anyone? Your Dad is hurting your brother and might end up hurting you and Sora! How could I just _let_ someone do that?" Leon was almost shouting but he managed to keep his voice controlled.

"…" Cloud made eye contact almost angrily. "Because, Dad knows Axel and Riku's faces and he threatened Roxas that he'd hurt them if he told anybody! Roxas didn't even tell me or Sora, he was so afraid…"

"…" Leon studied the sand on his beach towel. "Okay, I won't tell anybody for _now._ But I will go straight to child services if this keeps going on. And before you can even start to put me off, I know how to make people talk if I really wanted them to." Cloud smiled and leaned over to his friend. He wrapped his arms around his chest for an instant.

"Thanks, Leon." Leon blinked and watched Cloud dash over to Aerith and Yuffie who were coming back down the beach. Leon blinked again. Cloud had hugged him and he had felt so warm. It had just been a millisecond but it had also been the first time they had made physical contact of any kind whatsoever. Somehow that one hug had made him happier. It was like it was the right thing to have done.

But then, why did it also feel so wrong?

**0o0o0o**

Dark Water is a great movie but the reason for it as the title to this one is because I really couldn't think of anything else.

I realize that if someone found out their friend's little brother was being abused they wouldn't stay quiet if they were smart. They'd most likely go to the authorities. That's why this chapter bothers me.

**DISCLAIMER:** I own… practically nothing in this. If I did own KH2 or Final Fantasy do you think I'd still be living in such a tiny apartment in Tokyo? No, I'd be in the penthouse duh.


	25. Makedamnsure

◆**25◆ **MakeDamnSure

"Y' know, Axy, he's quite a cutie if I do say so myself." Reno purred from his seat next to Axel on the couch. Rude covered his eyes.

"Paws off my boyfriend. You have Rude, remember?" Axel clutched the still sleeping Roxas in his lap. He hadn't woken up since the car ride, even when Rude had bandaged his cuts. The bald man said he'd be fine though with a little rest.

"Rude? What Rude?" Reno looked around then spotted Rude sitting on his other side (the couch was one of those really, really big ones). "Rude! You're back from invisible land!" Reno threw himself into Rude's arms and rubbed his face in his chest.

"…" Rude sat there and played with his ponytail.

"I remember when you used to be like that with everybody… Now you're just a bitch to everybody 'cept Rude and sometimes me." Roxas mumbled something and turned his head towards Axel's right side.

"Shut up bitch. I love my Rude so I can act however the fuck I want to anybody else- I don't really care, zo to." Reno sat back up on the couch and Rude smiled. He'd been missing the mean-almost cruel- and sarcastic language from Reno. His boyfriend had been acting really _girly_ lately. Reno poked the bottom of Roxas' foot with his own.

"Nyuuuuuuuwha?" Roxas shot his eyes open, sitting up, and looked around. He anxiously touched the bandage on his face and sighed sinking back against Axel. Then he noticed Reno and Rude staring at him for the first time. O-kay… "What time is it?"

The redheads turned to Rude and the bald man shrank. He was the only one who ever wore a watch anymore. Both Reno and Axel complained about them being to awkward to wear all the time. He glanced at it. "8 o' clock. You've been out like 4 hours."

"…" Axel looked down at him. He didn't look much better than when they had first put the bandages on his face but at least now his eyes were fully open and the color was back on his cheeks. His eye was also less swollen. "Cloud called."

"And?"

"He said he wanted you to stay here tonight just in case. You uhh, still want to right?" He looked apprehensively down at his boyfriend. Although they loved each other and were very comfortable around each other, the blond half of the situation hadn't let the relationship grow in the take-off-my-clothes-take-off-your-clothes way yet.

"Yeah…" Roxas blinked.

Three hours later at 11 pm, Axel decided to go to sleep. He and Roxas walked down the hall of the apartment to Axel's room and stood inside.

"So how does this work?" Roxas leaned against the closed door.

"Well I'm going to sleep in my bed. Either you can join me, sleep on the cold, hard floor or on the couch but Rude and Reno do, umm, _things_ some nights in various places so I would stay in this room if I were you…" Axel smirked when he saw his boyfriend's rather scared face. The redhead plopped on his bed pulling back the covers while he lay down. He closed his eyes when his arms were behind his head on his pillow.

Roxas stood there awkwardly. He wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, he could sleep in the bed with Axel and take his chances. The other option was sleeping on the floor next to the bed._ I want to sleep in the bed but I don't want anything else to happen. I'm not ready for everything he is… _

Roxas blinked when Axel pulled off his shirt while pulling up the blankets and threw it to the side. Roxas gulped and felt the heat creep onto his face. Before he had pulled up the covers, he had seen Axel's thin but muscular chest and stomach. He had a slight tan- like his arms and legs- and his body just looked warm somehow. He took a deep breath and took off his own shirt, dropping it to the ground by his feet. He took the few cautious steps toward the bed and lifted the covers at the edge. With one last inward gulp, he lay down next to his boyfriend and pulled the cover back up.

Axel opened his eyes and smiled. "Good choice." He cupped Roxas' face in his palms and pulled him closer, pushing their lips together. Roxas complied, pushing back against Axel's warm lips and fingered Axel's bare chest. Axel smiled into the kiss and bit on Roxas' lip, making him open is mouth. He slipped his tongue in and Roxas pushed his body against Axel's. Axel wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and turned them so he was straddling him on the bed. Kissing forcefully back, Roxas ran his fingers through the red hair and pulled on it. Axel smirked and broke the kiss. Roxas whined, pulling on the red hair and frowning. Axel just smirked again and moved his eyes down Roxas' neck to his bare chest. He eyed the skinny chest, savoring the new view. It was abruptly stopped when Roxas whimpered again and pulled on his hair. Axel moved his eyes back to his face and smirked and passionately threw his tongue back down Roxas' throat. Axel moved his hands, running them over Roxas' abdomen and felt the skin prickle. The blond arched his back and gasped into Axel's mouth. Taking it as an invitation, his hands fooled with the hem on Roxas' pants. When Roxas didn't stop him, he moved them to his zipper and undid it. Before Roxas could protest, he deftly pulled the pants off and threw them to the side. Roxas started to mumble something into the kiss but Axel pushed back hard, holding him down, and pulled off his own pants. His eyes shot open when one of the warm hands trailed under his boxers, very close to an ever-growing lump. His hands shot out, grabbing onto Axel's wrists. Axel broke the kiss but stayed straddling him.

"R-rox-as, I can't do this anymore!" he frowned, stumbling out his words, out of breath.

"…" Roxas looked back up at him, trying to think without concentrating on his own panting. Had the room been this hot five minute ago? "I…but I'm scared Axel…"

Axel blinked and then half-smiled. "Roxy, I won't hurt you. There's nothing o be afraid of…"

"But Axel…" Roxas frowned and shut his eyes. When he opened them, he could've sworn Axel had the saddest face on he'd ever seen. Maybe it was just the lack of a full set of proper eyes since earlier though… After a second more of thought, Roxas let go of Axel's wrists and instead used one of his hands to pull him back into the kiss. With his other, he surprised both Axel and himself by pawing at the redhead's boxers. Axel smiled into Roxas lips and ground his hips down hard.

**0o0o0o0o**

meh, sorry for the uhhhh bad writing. This chapter is less than what I would like it to be… it's really short too…

I like Renochan though!!! 3 

Okay.. ill shudup now

I own nothing


	26. A Passing Grade

◆**26◆ **A passing grade

Roxas woke with a start and looked around. The room had stark white walls with a couple posters of bands he didn't know on them. There was a door. Wow. A window showed it was already sunny outside and the clock proved it was around noon. There was Axel, still sleeping next to him with one hand close to Roxas' face and the other lightly on top of Roxas' waist. The night before came crashing back. O… right.

Axel mumbled something and dug his face into his pillow. Roxas smiled. This was only like the second time he'd ever seen Axel asleep. That could be due to the fact that Roxas fell asleep more often than he did. Actually, Roxas sometimes forgot Axel even slept- like a creepy stereotypical Hollywood vampire or something.

Figuring his boyfriend would be out for a little longer, Roxas crept out of the bed and pulled on some clothes as quietly as he could. Clicking the door shut behind him, he sauntered down the hall to the kitchen. Spotting another redhead in the couch in the conjoined room, he plopped into a bar stool by the kitchen counter. Reno slightly turned his head.

"Finally awake or are you a sleepwalker?"

"Sleepwalker." Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Uuu this'll be easier to pry out of a sleepwalker than it would be an awake person, zo to." Reno smirked and fully turned so he was sitting backwards on the couch and facing Roxas. "So…Sleepwalker, tell me. Who's on top?" He smirked again when Roxas turned close to the color of his interrogator's hair. Reno got up from his seat and sauntered over to the blushing Roxas so he was closer than arms-length away. The redhead leaned his face down so he was breathing on Roxas' nose and his forehead rested on the blonds. "Will I have to pry it out of you? Hnn?" He bent his lips closer and Roxas jerked his head back uncomfortably.

"Uhh eheh yea…" Roxas forcefully pushed Reno's face away from his own. Reno looked back then smirked.

"Okay, you passed."

"Huh?" wtf?

"Hmm my brother's practically been running his life around you lately and I wanted to make sure you were good for him. You passed." He stated matter-o-factly like it was ordinary for him to be getting that close to his brother's boyfriends.

"Umm…Thanks?"

"You could pay me back…"

"Er how?"

"Wow you have a way with words." Roxas glared. "Like I asked before." Reno leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Who's on top?"

Roxas blushed and was about to try and make a run for it but then Axel walked down the hallway. He paused mid-step and stared at his suspicious brother and blushing boyfriend. They stared back. He blinked.

"What's happening?" He pecked Roxas' cheek and took the seat next to his while Reno walked around to the other side of the counter.

"I have officially decided to like Roxas. He's cool… but you should see someone about correcting his speech." He whispered the last part but the blond in question could hear enough to glare at him.

Axel chuckled. "Yea I'll be sure to send him straight to the ESL office when we go back to school." That received a punch in his shoulder from his boyfriend. Axel shrunk and scooted his stool away from him. Reno smirked.

"Aww I guess you're not a clingy guy after sex then eh, Roxas?" Reno grabbed a frying pan and held it up between him and his little brother. Axel glanced away and Roxas crossed his arms while blushing again. "O right, your brother's been calling like nonstop. Don't look at me like that! I didn't tell him you two were dirtying the sheets in there. I just said you were still asleep and you, little brother, were out."

Roxas sighed in relief. All he needed now was for Cloud to find out he'd lost his virginity during probably one of the toughest times in their short lives. He pictured the (maybe) angered and shocked Cloud either yelling his brains out or attempting his own Dr. Phil session. Roxas shuddered.

"Cough cough. Since nobody's really talking, I'll go right out and ask it. Do you have to wash your sheets because if you do, I need to know now before I put in our sheets…" Roxas could've sworn Reno blushed.

"I'm not answering that Reno and where is Rude anyway?"

"Dunno. He left for groceries or something. I stayed to keep the fort up and to make sure you two woke up before dinner." Reno finally lowered the frying pan. "I'll go call him. No sex on the counter, zo to." Reno scurried out of the kitchen before anyone could retort.

Axel scooted his stool back so his arm brushed against Roxas'. "So…"

"So…"

"Are we… still good? I mean you're not pissed at me or anything right?" Axel glanced anxiously down. He really was wondering because Roxas had been so hesitant that he wanted to be sure he hadn't gone too far. That would be bad.

"What're you talking about? Of course we're still good… Why wouldn't we be?" Well, other than the fact that he had recently been beaten up by his Dad and now his ass really hurt, he was just dandy.

"Well you said you were scared and I just want to make sure."

"The only reason I was scared was because in 5th grade our health teacher told us that buttsex was extremely dangerous and stuff and I had nightmares for a week."

Axel laughed. "Dangerous? Ha. No more dangerous than any other sex and plus, you can't get pregnant so no worries there." He frowned. "You can't… right?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Yes, Axel I can get pregnant and guess what, I feel nauseous so you must've cause something last night."

"O my god we have to go to the doctor and check it out!"

"…" Roxas patted his shoulder. "That's ok honey, you don't have to make sense yet." He smirked.

"…" Axel slapped the hand away and stood up, pulling Roxas up after him. "C'mon Roxy! Gimme a break!" He pulled the blond to his body and wrapped his arms around his waist loosely. "Let's go do something."

"Like what?" Roxas wrapped his arms around him as well.

"I dunno maybe after Rude checks on your face we could go to the beach."

"Cool I haven't been there at all since I moved."

"That's sacrilege."

"If you haven't noticed, I haven't exactly had much time to do anything other than staying at the hospital or watching my back."

"Right. Well, that means we really do have to visit those little annoying crabs and black flies!" Reno walked back in the room and smirked when he saw the two.

"Heh you guys are so cute! God Ax, don't look at me like that, zo to. O that was Rude, he's in the parking lot but he somehow locked himself in."

"…"

"I'm going to leave him there till he can figure it out, yo." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Sometimes you two don't even act like you love each other." Reno stuck his tongue out at his brother. "Anyway, we're going down there 'cause we're going to the beach today. I'll tell him you've tied yourself to the bed or something, that'll give him something to work for."

"Good idea…" Reno skipped out of the kitchen and down the hallway. Axel rolled his eyes.

"Okay are we going?"

"Yeah but you need trunks?"

"O right could I borrow a pair?"

"Yeah. Be right back." Axel let go of him and walked into his room. Roxas sat back down on the barstool with his head on his knees.

Everything in his life was so weird. The only word he could thing about that even came close to summing up his predicament was 'karma'. A building collapsed on him, he got a boyfriend. He dumps his girlfriend and comes out of the closet to all the people in Twilight Town, he grew even closer to said boyfriend. His Dad starts to beat him up, he loses his virginity to the same guy. Ha. His life was a soap opera but somehow, he was relatively happy. He had the greatest boyfriend he could ask for, his brothers were always there for him and his ex was on the verge of accepting him – or at least, she acted like she was. The only thing he could think of that he wanted that wasn't materialistic was for James to stop bugging him but he had a feeling that wasn't going to happen too soon.

"Hey why the frown?" Axel sauntered back in carrying a small backpack.

"Just thinking about things."

"Well don't do that too much you look too sad." He walked over and took his hand, pulling him up and starting for the door. "C'mon stop thinking about him." He frowned but hid his face. Roxas sighed.

"I'm trying." They hopped down the stairs outside and saw Rude in his car, playing with the door handle. He leaned back and hit his head on his seat repeatedly.

Roxas laughed and Axel joined in, tapping on the car window. Rude blinked open his eyes and Roxas was surprised to see how pretty his eyes were. From a distance they might look like normal old dark brown but just a window away they were actually really light brown with specks of dark brown. He usually wore those sunglasses everywhere- even in the house – so nobody ever got to see his eyes but right then he wasn't. Of course, Reno would have seen them and Axel probably had too at some point but Roxas never had.

Rude started to point animatedly at the lock on the door and Axel just smirked at him.

"Reno tied himself up there in the bed to give ya motivation…" Axel tried not to yell too loudly but made a pair of teenage girls walking by giggle madly anyway. He smirked, ignoring the girls. Rude just kept pulling on the handle and pressing the unlock button. Roxas jiggled the black handle lightly and the door swung open. Roxas blinked. Axel smirked. Rude blushed. The bald man grabbed his sunglasses and putting them on, stepped out of the car.

"Thank you, Roxas. Do you want me to look at that now?" He asked gruffly.

"Please." Rude stepped up to him and peeled off the bandage slowly. The adhesive made Roxas flinched repeatedly but he stood still. Rude held the bandage to the side with one hand and with the other he gingerly touched the cuts. Some had already started to form scabs while only one or two were still open. He reached into the car and brought out his bag, digging around in it for something. Finding a box of Band-Aids he opened the metal box.

"Pink or purple?"

"…" Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"It's the only ones I have, they were on sale. Pink or purple." He smiled apologetically.

"Pink then."

Rude took out two Band-Aids and unwrapped them noisily. He stuck them onto the two open cuts and crumpled the wrappings. "Okay just be careful today with that. If those come off, put on new ones."

Axel saluted and dragged Roxas to his truck, mumbling a 'thanks' on the way. Rude took the chance to scurry up the stairs and into his apartment, slamming the door on the way in.

He revved up the engine and crazily started out of the parking lot. Roxas clung to the seatbelt like usual. He was used to his boyfriend's speeding. The only time he didn't speed was when they were passing through town near the police station or where there was one of those 'children crossing, drive slow' signs. Whenever confronted about his speed, he played it ignorant although people who knew him well could plainly see the slight smirk tugging at the side of his face.

Within a ten-minute racecar sprint (Roxas was surprised the old truck could even go as fast as it did), they pulled up and parked next to a curb where the sand was spilling over the side.

**0o0o0o0o **

I'm not happy about this chapter either but it made me realize I like Reno even more than I thought. Just thinking of him doing something anywhere close to what he does in this and any other fic really, just adds to my reno-liking-meter

Happy easter…?

I own nothing 'cept jimmy miller, james and 7 volumes of Loveless that I seriously have to have someone pry out of my hands.


	27. Your Mother's Gone

◆**27◆ **

Your Mother's Gone and Your Father Hits You

**-**or**-**

Was it a Dream?

"Cloud." She ran her fingers througrrrrrrrh his sandy hair but he just dug his face into the warm, real sand. "C'mon Cloudy, it's already 8 pm, you've slept practically the whole day." He lifted his head and blinked his eyes open.

The sky was getting darker and there were faint traces of some constellations. The moon was bright and high in the night sky in a Cheshire cat grin. He sat up and shook the sand out of his hair. Leon was cowering a little way down the beach while Yuffie kicked sand on him rather brutally. Aerith was sitting cross-legged in the sand next to where Cloud's head used to be and was smiling apologetically.

"Is it really already 8?" She nodded. "God, I'm so sorry I was a bum all day! I really didn't sleep much last night."

"Something wrong?"

"Roxas and Sora drugged my Coke with something and they had it straight from the can." He laughed. "We stayed up till 6 watching little kid shows and throwing things all around and just being hyper. I lost track of how many whatevers we drank after midnight…"

She laughed and wrapped a towel around her shoulders. "You guys always seem to get along so well. How do you do it? It was so hard for me to get along with my big brother before he left for college!"

He smiled. "We know each other so well since I didn't really have friends in Twilight Town and I was always hanging out with them. It's hard to keep secrets in our house because of that so since we don't hide anything, I guess we have an understanding of each other or something."

"You have no secrets?"

"Well I guess that would be an overstatement because I haven't told Sora I like guys and Roxas has secrets too. He's the best at keeping secrets but Sora tells us everything. I guess I'm not too great at keeping secrets either. Well, considering I told you guys I was gay on my first day here."

enter mental sweatdrop here

"Roxas has been acting weird lately what's up?"

Cloud looked away at Yuffie while she tackled Leon and bashed his head with a conch shell. Ow. "Just 'cause we share everything doesn't mean we're sharing it with the world."

She frowned, sighing. Cloud could be so stubborn. "Okay." She followed his gaze and then blinked. "O right, we're camping out on the beach tonight. It's just too nice to waste and there's not going to be anybody else here since it's a work night so we decided to stay. Are you going to too?"

"Sure, sounds great." He playfully started the pull the sand over his feet and stuck a stick in the top of the pile. He grinned at his toes. "I've been wanting to do that all day."

**0o0o0o**

Two hours later, the friends could definitely make out at least three star patterns. They lay on their backs up about halfway between the water and the street. Aerith and Yuffie had managed to convince the boys that they need all four towels so that they didn't get sunburned when the sun came back up. Actually, Yuffie threatened them that she'd be hell in the morning if they didn't let them use the towels but that had no effect on the decision… Cloud had his arms under his head next to Aerith with Leon on his other side and Yuffie next to Aerith.

"This was really fun guys." Yuffie closed her eyes. "But now, I'm exhausted so I'm gunna sleep. Don't wake me up before 9 or you get maximum painful hell in your nether regions. Night." Five minutes later, they could hear light snoring.

"Of all the people to fall asleep first…" Leon mumbled to the sky.

"You say something Leon?" Aerith lifted her head and glanced over Cloud's still bare chest. She yawned.

"Yeah, but never mind."

"Whatever, look, I think I'm going to sleep too. Other people sleeping always makes me tired… Night."

"Night." Leon glanced over at Cloud. He was frowning with his eyes half closed. He lifted a tired arm and traced a constellation. His frown deepened.

"I always wanted to go there. But no one would take me. They always thought I was crazy for dreaming about going to the stars. Not even Vince would talk about it. And I have no idea why…" He let his arm drop and pulled it back under his head. He glanced over at Leon who had his arms in the same position. "You think I'm crazy?"

"Yes but not because of that." He looked back at Cloud.

"Why then?"

"Because your life is completely messed up and you act like it's nothing." He smiled but Cloud frowned again. "Sorry I-"

"No, you're right… G'night Leon." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"Night…" Leon watched Cloud 'sleep'. Poor Cloud never had even the slightest chance of making it as an actor if he tried. It was obvious he was avoiding the subject of his turbulent life no matter how much it might actually be bugging him. Leon blinked. Something was different about Cloud today and he couldn't tell what. It seemed that just the simplest change of scenery had brought out a different side of him or something. It might also have to do with the worrisome phone call but there was something else too. He just couldn't tell what.

**0o0o0o**

Cloud shot up with a start. His throat felt dry and he could feel dampness on his forehead. He looked around, out of breath and saw all three of his friends still asleep. The ocean was relatively calmer than the day before and the sun wasn't high enough for beach-goers to visit yet. He sat there for a couple minutes, just trying to enjoy the scenery and catching his breath.

All he could remember from the horrible dream was that he was in school, walking down the hallways and not a single person was there. Suddenly a body fell out of a locker in front of him. Upon closer examination he found it was himself. Then James jumped out from the same locker and started to chase him. Actually, he had the body and clothes of Jack Nicholson in _The Shinning _but his face was there. He had a big knife and he kept saying 'redrum' really creepily. Cloud started to run and he turned a corner and bumped into Sephiroth's bent back who was apparently too preoccupied to notice. Cloud looked over Sephiroth's shoulder and saw a pants-less Vincent pulling on silver hair and panting. It was then that James Nicholson limped around the corner and yelled 'here's Johnny' and stabbed Cloud in the back. It must've been then that he woke up.

He could understand the part of James being a murderer and killing him but why was Sephiroth giving Vincent a hand job? And why was he already dead in his own dream? It made Cloud shudder. He shakily stood up and decided he needed a dip in the water before the others woke up. He dragged his feet through the warming sand and sat in the shallow water. The blond didn't know why his throat felt so dry and it started to bug him since he couldn't just drink the ocean.

He heard a shuffle behind him and turned his head. Leon was walking almost cautiously over. He plopped down next to Cloud with his legs stretched out in front of him and leaning backwards on his hands.

"Hey…" Cloud blinked at him.

"You okay?"

"Uhh why wouldn't I be?"

"In your sleep, you were tossing and turning and then you screamed. I think I was the only one who heard it though."

"Really?" He was watching me sleep…?

"Yeah."

"I had a really bad nightmare."

"About?"

"I won't go into details but James was chasing me and I saw Sephiroth and Vincent… ya know… and then James stabbed me and I woke up." Cloud blinked when Leon didn't say anything. Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Okay… you did go into details… But, you had a dream about Vincent and Sephiroth having… sex?"

"No Sephiroth was giving Vincent a hand job…" Cloud shuddered and rubbed his forehead.

"…" Leon wondered about what else his friend dreamt about. This dream was really weird. "Whatever Cloud."

"I can't exactly help what I dream about Le-on."

"Mmmhmm." Leon smirked.

"Leon!" Cloud used both hands and pushed him face first into the water. The brunnette waved his arms around and came up spluttering. He smirked and tackled Cloud in the shallows, pinning his arms down. Cloud blinked then smirked.

"What're you smirking at? I won." Cloud used a finger to point at where he should've been able to see his feet. Leon followed his finger and instead of feet, he found himself.

Somehow he had ended up straddling him. He blushed madly and let go of Cloud's wrists but couldn't manage to get off of his hips quick enough. Cloud sat his upper half up so he was looking straight into Leon's eyes. He wrapped his arms around Leon's neck and pushed their chests together. His salty breath was on Leon's nose and he could feel the heat rising to his face. He tried to get out of Cloud's grasp but instead Cloud's lips collided with his own. Surprising both Cloud and himself, he pushed Cloud back so he was laying down again and pinned his arms down, kissing Cloud back all the while. Cloud opened his eyes and said something into the kiss. Leon pulled his head back confused and Cloud spoke again.

"Leon wake up." Leon blinked. "Leon, wake up damn it!" Leon blinked his eyes open and found Cloud's face inches away from his own. His hands were on his shoulders. "Finally. God, I thought you passed out or something."

"Huh?" Hadn't he just been kissing him? Wait. Kissing Cloud? What. The. Fuck.

"You closed your eyes when I finished telling you my dream and didn't open them till now. Were you sleeping?" Cloud pulled his face farther away from Leon's.

"Uhh, yeah I guess I was…" He looked around. Aerith and Yuffie were still asleep and there still wasn't anybody on the beach. Cloud was sitting on his haunches in front of him, now with his hands supporting him in the water, and he was staring at him. "What?"

Cloud smirked then pointed down. Leon followed his finger with sudden déjà vu, his eyes widening, and quickly covered up. He blushed madly and looked back at Cloud. "So who'd ya dream about?" Cloud said, sitting so his legs were spread out in front of him and he was leaning on his hands like Leon had been before but he was facing Leon still.

"Eheh umm…"

"C'mon who would I tell? I am second best in the whole world at keeping secrets." He proudly thumbed his chest.

"…" Leon blinked at him then averted his gaze to the ocean. His eyes widened when he saw a rather large wave – surf competition worthy wave that is – coming straight at them. "Cloud behind-" But it was too late. The waved rammed into the blond, washing all around him. Leon uncovered himself and stretched his neck over the wave to try and see him but he couldn't. "Cloud? Cloud where are you?"

"I'm right here dumbass." He looked down. Cloud had his chin on his chest and was looking up at him. The rest of his body was splayed over Leon's. Damn, that wave was strong. Leon tried to stop his blushing but ended up doing so anyway. "Leon, are you blushing?" Cloud smirked and pulled himself up so his legs were on either side of him still but he was face to face now. He pushed his face up so Leon could smell the slightly salty breath. Leon blushed more and tried to back away. Before he could though, Cloud gingerly pressed his lips on Leon's but almost instantly pulled away and started to get off of him.

"Sorry I-" He was stopped mid-sentence by Leon grabbing his elbow and pulling him back. Before he could even blink, Leon put their lips back together. Cloud blinked and looked back at Leon's closed eyes. He smiled and pressed back, wrapping his arms around his neck. Leon wrapped his hands around Cloud's back and pulled him closer. Cloud broke the kiss but kept his arms around the brunette. He blinked his eyes open.

Before he could talk, Leon did. "Sorry, umm." He started to let go of the blond and stand up but Cloud held on tight.

"Not as straight as he claims eh?" Cloud smiled. He knew he had been pushing his luck. He also knew it was probably his first and last kiss he'd get from Leon.

"I-"

"No it was my fault and I won't tell anyone you kissed me back…"

"…" Leon kept holding him.

"If you don't let go soon though, Aerith and Yuffie are bound to have a lot to talk about."

"It was you."

"Nani?"

"It was you who I… dreamt about just before."

Cloud stared back at him then his smile grew.

"You're smiling?"

"Leon, I've had a crush on you since like, the first day I met you! You're so oblivious sometimes!"

This is the front desk. You informed us for a wake up call.

"… What about Vincent?"

"Ha, I told him I didn't want a long-distance relationship millions of times but he still didn't listen. No matter how long we were together, he didn't usually like to let me have my own way. He was so uhh… dominant for lack of a better word! Screw Vincent! I spent three of the best years of my life with him but I didn't feel like I used to when he kissed me on Christmas. I'm over him."

"…" Leon looked into his sky blue eyes. All that had just happened had somehow felt so right. He wanted to do it again. But what about Aerith and Yuffie? Or anyone else for that matter? If they saw him kissing Cloud, what would they say? He had gone through his whole life liking girls, sneaking porno magazines out of the gas stations with friends, hacking into the teacher's laptops to look at inappropriate sites, even ass-grabbing some of the girls in middle school with his pervybuddies. His whole view on the world came crashing down on him.

"You okay? I guess I might've pushed it too far…" Cloud unwrapped his arms and forcefully yanked himself free of Leon, standing up.

The water suddenly became much colder and Leon didn't like it. He watched Cloud's retreating back walk slowly back to the sleeping girls and sprung up. He dashed over to Cloud, spraying sand as he went, and took him by surprise, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him close.

"L-leon!" Cloud stuttered out.

"I don't know why I feel the way I do Cloud, but I like it." Leon mumbled. He hated the mushy-lovey-dovey stuff but it was the truth.

Cloud blinked and buried his face in his broad chest and wrapped his arms around said skin. "I like it too." Leon laid his chin on blond hair and his eyes closed.

Yuffie sat up a blinked her eyes. Looking down the row for Leon and Cloud, she couldn't find them. She glanced at the water and the beach and her breath caught. Either Cloud was hooking Leon up in rock-climbing gear or they were having some sort of love-fest. Hold the phone, Leon did not have 'love-fests' with guys! She looked down at Aerith and tried to keep her eyes on her face while shaking her shoulder repeatedly. "Yo, Aerith, wake up!" She rushed out quietly.

"Hnn? O, morning Yuffie." She sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Aerith look over there!" She turned Aerith's shoulders so she was facing Cloud and Leon a little way down the beach. They seemed to be hugging and oblivious to the world. She gasped.

"Okay… what's going on?"

"No idea, I just woke up to that. Did I miss something? Is Leon gay?"

"I caught him and some other guy stealing porn magazines once so I don't think so…"

"Yeah but that's what gay guys do to try and be not gay!"

"O, right." They blinked and saw the boys pull away from each other. They started to walk over to the girls but didn't seem to see them sitting up so Aerith and Yuffie laid back down and pretended to sleep.

"Don't tell them." Leon's voice.

"Why not?" Cloud's voice was kind of high-pitched in the morning.

"Because…uhh just because I kissed you doesn't mean I'm completely gay right?" Yuffie clamped back a squeal.

"Well, let me tell you a story. A story based on a true story that is." Aerith could hear them sit back down where they had slept. "We'll call the main character… Roxas." Aerith rolled her eyes behind closed lids. "So, Roxas was in love with this girl, Ollette, right? Well one day he meets this guy –we'll call him Axel- and falls madly in love with him. Ollette comes for a visit and starts kissing him like usual but he doesn't feel anything towards her anymore. Even when she gets really into it, he doesn't like it anymore. So as a summary, the character Roxas was 100 straight with the girl Ollette but then he turned 110 gay in a matter of months after meeting the guy Axel." Cloud crossed his arms. "Things change so easily."

"Cloud is that really how Roxas was or did you just make that up?"

"Seriously! Ask anybody! Roxas had a girlfriend named Ollette but then he fell in love with Axel and now Ollette isn't even a great friend anymore 'cause she caught them having an 'intense make-out session' on our couch in front of her!"

"Intense make-out session?"

"Her words, not mine. Although, it probably was since what we saw in the car…" Cloud blushed.

"And now Roxas is sleeping in the same house as the 'intense make-out session' Axel and you have no problem with that?"

"Eheh, I really hope they aren't having sex…" Leon blushed. "Mom's not here so she can't help him if he needs help like she did me." Cloud sighed inwardly. He had to admit he was quite an impulsive person and blurted out things he meant to keep with himself even though he tried mot to say them. He'd done it before, many times and most of the times it had ended up being the wrong habit.

"You've had sex?" Leon just realized that Cloud was a really, really open person.

"Once. Last year. Vincent- well, I won't go into details but yeah."

Leon blushed and his eyes widened.

"Cloudy you've had man sex?" Cloud spun around to face both girls sitting there and staring at him.

"H-how long have you been up?" Cloud was blushing awkwardly now.

"Long enough to hear that Axel and Roxas are probably kicking it in bed and that you have no virginity and that you and Leon are- ow! Aerith why'd you hit me?" Yuffie backed away and rubbed her shoulder.

"Long enough." She said cheerfully. Leon paled. Cloud blushed. Yuffie smirked. "Leon, are you gay?"

"…uhm…"Leon blinked back at her soft face. She knew him well enough to know that was his way of saying 'im-too-embarrassed-to-answer-obviously-but-yes.

"And you and Cloudy kissed and didn't even wake me up to see it? Wow what a wonderful friendship we have!" Yuffie faked sad. "At least tell me this, did you like it?"

"Yes… I liked it-"

"I liked it too!" Cloud practically shouted.

"And yes, I think I'm okay with… being gay."

"Good 'cause I like you better gay." Cloud took it upon himself to climb into Leon's still damp lap with his knees under his chin. He wiggled his toes and winked at Aerith. She giggled in turn and Leon blushed. Yuffie giggled too.

"Cloudy you're so cute! And Leonie! Wait… Leonie? No that sounds really weird. It sounds like that guy who wrote all those Unfortunate books or whatever. Hmmm. Leono, Leonie, Lele… I like that one! Yay now Lele's cute too!" She sprung up and threw her arms around his neck, staying put while her friends talked about something she was blocking out. She was always good at that. Something pulled her to look over toward ocean then the street. There weren't any houses or buildings close to the beach because the city counsel said it would preserve the tourist attraction of the beach. Instead, there was a really big parking lot with trees on little islands spread out on it. Like that was any better than houses. She saw a man walking toward the beach hurriedly. "Guys if you really do want to stay secret, there's a dude coming…"

Cloud unwillingly got off of Leon's lap and sat closer to Aerith. He looked over to the parking lot and strained his eyes to see if he knew the man. He was quite tall and had light colored hair and seemed to know where he was going.

"Cloudy! Answer!"

"Huh?" Cloud turned back to his friends, forgetting the man.

"I just asked if you and Leon are together now."

"Uh I don't know, are we?" Cloud blinked at Leon.

'Sure.' Leon's eyes were saying.

"Then yes, we're together." Cloud was all smiles but then he heard something that the others must've missed. There was definitely a string of profanities coming from the edge of the parking lot.

He turned his head while the others animatedly talked about some new movie. His eyes widened but he didn't move. James was hobbling towards him. His left foot was staggering behind and Cloud guessed that he had hit it on the curb. He gulped but his mouth couldn't move. Fear overtook him and his chest felt like it was compressing. His legs seemed to sink into the warm sand and his arms seemed perpetually frozen at his sides. Cloud never really got scared but he had grown to fear his father, the abuser. He finally managed to open his mouth and squeak.

"R-run." He started to shake uncontrollably.

"What?" All three friends looked at him.

"Fuck I said run!" Cloud almost shouted but he kept shaking and his legs wouldn't move. Yuffie, scared from the sudden outburst followed orders and dragged an unwilling Leon and a surprised Aerith with her a little way along the beach. They watched James approach Cloud and bend over so his face was centimeters away from their friend's. Yuffie held back Leon by holding his neck in her arms.

"Where's your brother, Cloud?" He was whispering.

"I-I don't know, sir." Cloud managed to lift a few fingers but he was shaking like a leaf from head to toe. It was so bad that his friends could see it from down the beach.

"FUCK YOU BITCH, WHERE'S ROXAS?" He suddenly started screaming. Leon understood finally that this must be James, Cloud's father. He tried to pry off Yuffie but she just held on tighter. Aerith stood confused to the side.

"I DON'T KNOW, SIR!" Cloud triggered him by yelling back. James stood tall over him and pulled back his good leg. He hit Cloud's side, hard and sent him rolling toward the water. He cried out and James just kicked him again.

"WHERE'S YOUR FUCKING BROTHER ROXAS?" He picked Cloud up by his neck like a rag doll and held him off the ground on the shoreline. Cloud said something Aerith couldn't hear and the man punched his jaw. Cloud finally managed to stop most of the shaking and swung his legs out. His kicks hit James twice in his abdomen but he stopped kicking when James threw Cloud into the surf.

"Let me go Yuffie! He's practically killing him!" Leon pulled at the Yuffie scarf angrily. He couldn't just watch Cloud get beat up by this guy! It had already escalated way off his ethics chart.

"No you'll just get hurt too!" Yuffie beckoned Aerith over with her head and Aerith helped by holding one of Leon's arms.

"I'm sorry Leon, I want to do something too. But Yuffie's right, we'll just get hurt! If we're hurt we won't be able to help Cloud after this…"

James advanced on his son and when he was shaking some water off his face, he kicked said face and sent him spiraling back into the water.

He spat in the water where Cloud had gone under. "Next time you tell me bitch or else it'll be worse than this." James turned, now satisfied that he was in complete control over Cloud and practically ran back to the parking lot and down the street. Cloud groaned and dragged himself back to the shore, collapsing once he got there. Yuffie and Aerith finally let go of Leon and all three ran back over once they were sure the man was gone. Leon made it there first.

"Cloud are you okay?" He sure didn't look okay. His face was in the sand so he couldn't see the bruises there. He could see the red, soon-to-be-bruises marks on his sides and red fingers outlined in his neck though. Yuffie made it there next with Aerith in tow and they gasped at the motionless Cloud. Not waiting for instruction, Aerith ran to get the towels.

Leon pulled Cloud cautiously off of the sand and sat him up. Leon's arms were wrapped around him and he started to rub him. He was deathly cold but Leon couldn't understand why. Yuffie stood awkwardly on the side, worry written all over her face and body. Cloud started to shake again.

"How-How'd he f-find me-e?" Cloud stuttered out, still spitting out some salt water while Aerith wrapped the towels around him in an effort to dry him off and warm him up.

"Was that James?" Leon saw Cloud wipe away a few tears and he frowned.

"…" Cloud nodded sadly.

"Who's James?" Aerith was on her knees next to Cloud trying to dry off his hair without mauling Leon in the process.

"Nobody." Cloud closed his eyes and rubbed his temple.

"But-" Leon cut her off with a warning look.

"You wanna go home Cloudy?" Yuffie was standing between him and the ocean.

"No! I have to stay here for now. He'll just find me if I go home."

"Then I'll stay with you." Leon spoke up.

"Me too." Aerith.

"Make it three." Yuffie plopped down so she was now completely blocking the cold waves from Cloud's feet.

He sighed. "Thank you, you guys."

They sat on the beach talking and enjoying each other most of the day but conveniently avoiding the topic of what happened with James. Since Cloud had been asleep all of the day before, they had enough to talk about. For some reason, their conversations at school never got too far from where they started. They saw a few beach-goers – mostly tourists even in the off-season but for the most part, nobody came. Till around noon that is.

Yuffie was the first to spot the red truck screech into the parking lot near the curb. She poked Cloud's cheek.

"Cloudy, that's Axel's truck right?"

Cloudy sat up off the sand and looked where she pointed. He sighed when he saw Roxas try to get out of the car but instead be caught by Axel before he could even think about getting out. Roxas yelled at him but Axel just carried him anyway over the curb and plopped him in the sand. He pulled off his shirt and Roxas did the same, throwing them into the back of the truck. Axel said something to him and Roxas started to sprint to the ocean. Axel gave him a four second head start but even that didn't stop him from catching up to him and tackling him into the waves. Cloud and company watched the movie.

Axel pulled Roxas out of the water and back to shore with him after a few minutes and they sat side by side with their feet in the water. The redhead wrapped an arm around Roxas' shoulders. Yuffie started to giggle and caused Axel to glance over his shoulder. Roxas did the same and when he spotted Cloud, he tried to pull away from Axel but he was kept firmly there. Roxas frowned up at him until he was finally let go, scurrying over to Cloud with Axel following behind.

Out of breath, Roxas hugged Cloud then sat across from him near Yuffie. Axel sat between him and Leon, seeming quite lazy. Leon had the urge to scoot away from him for some reason but held his composure.

"Hey Cloud, what happened?" Roxas gave him a concerned look when he noticed the now bluish bruises.

"He came." Cloud mumbled.

"What?" Roxas stared at him, frozen. Axel stiffened as well. "He came here?"

"Yeah, this beach."

"…"

They sat in awkward silence until Aerith spoke up.

"I like your pink Band-Aids, Roxas. Why do you have them?"

"Uhh, Cloud?"

"He's got them the same reason I got beat up today I assume."

"Who was that scary man?" Yuffie poked Roxas' cheek just to be batted away by Axel.

"Uhh, Cloud! I thought we said-"

Cloud sighed, he was sick of lying to everyone. He was sick of hiding behind those lies and he was sick of everyone being concerned without knowing exactly what they were concerned about. "Screw what I said, that was our Dad," A collective girly gasp inserted here. "James."

"Have you told anyone?" Aerith was now completely concerned. How long had this been going on? As long Roxas had been acting messed up? That was longer than a week.

"No."

"What! Why not?"

"Because he threatened Roxas he'd hurt Axel or Riku if he told. I didn't even find out till after he was beaten three times before. Now it's four for him and once for me 'cause James couldn't find him I guess…" Cloud sighed and leaned his head on Leon's tan shoulder. Roxas noticed this immediately and smiled inwardly. He'd been waiting for them to get together.

"Yeah, my Roxy got hurt because of me and I didn't even know about it!" Axel frowned and pulled said boy into his lap. Roxas leaned back and got comfortable. With Axel, you never knew when he'd let you go.

Yuffie giggled. "You two are so cute!" Roxas blushed.

"Gosh, Yuffie, I never even heard that word from you until you saw Cloud." Aerith glanced over at her.

"Yeah well the Strife boys are so cute because they're all so gay – well except Sora but who knows - and when they're with their boyfriends, they look even cuter!" Yuffie bounced in the sand.

"I know, isn't Roxas just the cutest little thing on the planet?" Axel buried his face in blond hair and Roxas turned the color of Axel's hair again. Cloud smiled and realized then just how close Roxas and Axel really were. He didn't see much of Axel since Roxas didn't like to have the two of them at the same lunch table let alone the same room and so he thought that their relationship wasn't much of anything yet. Now that he saw just how relaxed and comfortable Roxas was with him, he was almost envious of their closeness.

The friends ended up staying at the beach for another hour then going to their respective homes. Axel and Roxas' goodbye kiss turned out to be a goodbye make-out that made several beach-going teenage tourists giggle and even take a few cell phone pictures. Roxas would've spent the night at Axel's again because they were still worried about James but Cloud convinced him to go home with him because it was a school night.

Cloud pecked Leon on the cheek when they parted, causing him to blush. Figuring that Leon was still getting used to the whole 'I'm gay and I'm liking my best friend', he laughed on the way home. He'd gone through that stage long ago and he knew how hard it was to get through but when he looked back on it now, he thought it was rather amusing. He had pulled out all the stops, buying porn and pictures of naked ladies and asking girls to kiss him were just two of the things he had miserably failed at trying to be straight (or if anything, bi).

It had obviously been to no avail.

He fell asleep that night with a smile on his face, thinking of Leon. He was so elated that he had made progress with him, even going as far as becoming _boyfriends_ with him. The new relationship pushed all worries of James out of weary mind and so his dreams were not filled with creepy reenactments of _The Shinning_.

Leon fell asleep uncertain. He had decided he liked Cloud. He had accepted the fact that he was gay. All in one day to boot. IT was quite the blow for one day. Also elated, he had happy dreams about his new boyfriend. This did not, however, erase all thoughts of James out of his head. He hated that man with all his soul. He suspected that he'd never forgive him for what he had done to Cloud and his little brother.

Roxas fell asleep with a large frown and hugging Mister Dusky. He loved to be in love and that it seemed like it would be that way for quite some time. He didn't, however, love how the James situation had gotten so out of hand. He had to think of something to protect his loved ones and soon. It was is fault after all, that Cloud had gotten beaten up. Since James couldn't find him…

Sora, Riku, Demyx and Zexion all fell asleep with large frowns too. Actually, Demyx was crying and Zexion was trying to comfort him. You see, they haven't been in this so-called, feeble 'fanfiction' for such an extremely long time that they're worried their wannabe-writer as well as the rest of their fanfiction world has forgotten about them. Shame on you.

Gets whacked in head by heart shaped cookies Eheh, right. Don't forget Mansex either. OW! I mean Xemmy! FUCK OW! I MEAN CAPTAIN XEMNAS…! These cookies are actually kinda yummy… Thanks Xemmy! OW!

**0o0o0o**

okay, yeah, reallllllllllyy late update but things kept coming up and I kept forgetting. Plus school's being a very, very, very stressful bitch. I actually got sick for a couple days from it. On those few days away from school, I got completely addicted to Tales of the Abyss on my PS2 again. But…. Beating Legretta, Largo and Arietta at the same time seems futile.

I realize the mushy-ness of this chapter and the fluff but then the violence… it's kinda weird…

When I was writing this, I was also watching Sukisho so that's the reason for the Japanese. 'Nani' means 'what' in Japanese for those who didn't know.

The title to this chapter is a line from the song _Hold On_ by Good Charlotte.

**DISCLAIMER: **I own nothing…


	28. The Rebel Billionaire

◆**28◆ **The Rebel Billionaire

"Roxas… what is this show?" Sora leaned his head against his twin's shoulder, the tips of his brown spikes brushing under Roxas' chin. It was Monday afternoon and they had resorted to channel surfing. Since Cloud was out with Aerith, they had no obligation to eat healthy food, read books or do chores.

"Rebel Billionaire I think… But I dunno, it's kind of old." Roxas blinked looking at the TV guide again. "Yeah, that's the show."

"What is it supposed to be about?"

"I think it's a reality show that they have to compete for an airplane job or something… I've only seen two episodes before though and they were kind of weird. I like it though…" He added as an afterthought.

"Yea well this _is _weird. Can't they ever make any reality shows that_ I'd_ like?"

"Hey I thought you like Destiny Islands Idol and So You Think You Can Dance."

"I do but those are on stages and this kind of reality show isn't."

"Whatever, let's just change it." Roxas deftly typed in another channel on the remote. You get to memorizing things like that when you use them enough. He blinked at the flashing screen.

"What channel is this? Wait, is this what I think it is…?" Sora gaped at the bright colors.

"This is the anime channel, and yea I think you're thinking right…"

"Ohmygawd they made an anime version of Power Puff Girls?"

"Apparently…Heeeehehaa" Roxas covered his eyes.

"What's so funny?" Sora lifted his head and looked at the blond boy's face. There was nothing funny about Mojo putting innocent kindergarteners in a birdcage!

"Hahaehea- I remember when haehahaa when you used to wear Mom's little pink skirt and her black boots and pink tank top and you'd put your haahaha you'd put you hair up in this really pathetic excuse for a ponytail hahehaa."

Sora turned pink. "I-I don't remember that!"

"O yes you do, admit it!"

"Nope, don't remember."

"O but then you actually bribed Cloud into playing Bubbles! Remember?"

"And then we tried to fly but I ended up pulling down the fan!"

"Ha, you admit it."

"Wha-…" Sora crossed his arms and grabbed the remote, flipping the channel to MTV where Pete Wentz was getting Punked for the third time that day. O how everybody loves re-runs.

"Oi, I'm fooling with you brother! Lighten up! I won't tell Riku about it or show him the pic-"

"Why would I care if you told Riku?" Sora kept his eyes on the screen.

"…" Roxas blinked. It was obvious to him now that Riku liked his brother. He always smiled at Sora and tended to sit and walk next to him whenever it was physically possible. Riku did have a tendency to be more accident prone around Sora the way he bumped into him or brushed against him all the time…

He wasn't sure if his twin felt anything towards the pretty boy and he didn't want to get involved in someone else's love life but he couldn't help but wonder if they'd ever be together. Ha. Ever since he and Axel had gotten together -what now seemed like so long ago- he'd been pairing more and more people together in his head. It was kind of weird but he couldn't help it.

"Earth to twin number uno. Come in twin uno." Sora waved a hand in front of Roxas' blank face. He blinked.

"Hmm?"

"Are you dead or something?"

"Yea Sor, I'm dead." Roxas rolled his eyes.

An hour later, they were sick of watching Ashton Kutcher make fun of the Olsen twins and practically puking because of old Madonna music videos so Sora spoke up.

"Let's play truth or dare. I haven't played that for-ever and I really want to."

"Sure you go first, I don't know what to ask you yet."

Sora grinned and leaned in so his face was inches away from his twin's. "Okay, truth or dare?"

"Truth." The last dare he took from Sora landed him in detention for two weeks. Who knew it would be against the rules to hang all your underwear from top of the jungle gym?

"Hmmm…" Sora blinked then looked at Roxas with a smug smile and half-lidded eyes. Roxas flinched. _Maybe I should have chosen dare… _"Ok, are you and Axel closer than just friends and if so, how much closer?"

Roxas gulped and pulled his head back to fully face Sora. When'd he even start to suspect that? He and Axel had been pretty careful in public since Roxas had wanted so badly to keep it secret… "Sora, do I have to answer?"

"Yes."

"…" Roxas closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He looked at his brother after a moment. He was looking quite happy actually. "Fine… Axel and I are boyfriends."

"And…?"

"And, I'll tell you if you promise to take a dare and do whatever I tell you."

"Yea, just tell me, I'll do whatever you say, promise."

"And… we've gone as far as having sex…" It was pointless to try and weasel out of things with Sora. He was the kind of person who would twist the knife instead of just stabbing you.

Sora blinked and his jaw dropped. Sex? His twin? His own brother? "You've had sex with a… dude?"

"Yeah, don't tell Cloud for now." Roxas looked away and closed his eyes, frowning.

Sora really couldn't believe it. In 5th grade, Roxas had been so afraid of sex that he couldn't even look at the diagrams in the textbook. The teacher actually made him do extra credit work since he had skipped out on so many of the sex-ed classes. He saw how sad his brother looked and scooted over so he was hugging him.

"Why are you sad?"

Roxas opened his eyes and looked down into the brown hair. "…"

"Did he make you do it or something? Cause if he did…"

"N-no, he doesn't make me do anything. He's amazing. He'd never make me do something I didn't want to. Especially something… like that…"

"Then why the frown?"

"Because, you're the first person I've told."

"Love you Rox."

"Love you too Sor." Roxas smiled. He hadn't been accused of anything. He hadn't even been told that he needed to stop seeing Axel like he had expected from his brothers. Actually, now it seemed almost idiotic for him to have thought that he was going to be rejected for having sex. I mean, c'mon, it happened like everyday. No, not _like_ everyday, it happened _every_day.

And every night for that matter.

Maybe his age had frightened him. He was almost sixteen – his birthday was actually next week- and Axel was turning seventeen in August (he was held back in first grade or something because he failed math). If his Grandma ever found out about this, she'd have thought it to be quite disturbing and that he needed to go to some Catholic all-boys school to get back on the right track. After all, She probably didn't even start to think such thoughts until she was at least twenty.

If that day ever came though, he'd just have to grit his teeth and bear it. Tell his Grandma to get used to it. This was how things were these days. Not some 'virginity-above-all' world where if you lost it before marriage you'd be an outcast to society; shunned because they thought of it as one of the biggest sins.

Anyways…

Roxas smirked down at Sora and he shrank back. "My turn… I dare you to-" Sora gulped rather loudly. "go on a date with Riku."

"WHAT!?" Sora turned bright red. "THAT IS SO NOT FAIR!"

"How is it not fair dear brother? I just told you the biggest secret in my life. I should get some type of reward, no?" He cocked his head and stared at the flabbergasted brunette.

"…" Sora crossed his arms and looked at his feet. Sure Riku was the best friend he'd ever had but he had only once before thought of him in that way and when he had, he had pushed the thought away as soon as he could and moved on with his life.

He should do it. Roxas had spilled a huge secret after all. If he backed down, he'd probably shove it in his face whenever the time for doing such things came. It was only one date right? _I can manage_.

Sigh

"Fine, I'll go out with him." Sora could've sworn he heard Roxas squeal.

"Call him now and I'll listen on the other end."

"Aww C'm-"

"Ah ah ah, you promised! Might as well get it over with." He hopped up and grabbed two of three cordless home phones in the house and tossed a dirty white one at Sora. The brunette sighed and punched in the number. Roxas blinked. "You already know his number?"

"You know Axel's by heart."

"I'm dating Axel."

"Shh, it's ringing." Roxas rolled his eyes and waited.

"Hello?" The voice was cheerful but it sounded preoccupied.

"Hey Riku." Roxas turned on his phone and covered the mouthpiece, suppressing random giggles while he listened.

"Sora, what's up?" Roxas could tell he had put down whatever he had been doing but wasn't sure if his brother noticed this.

"Nothing…"

"…"

They sat in silence for what seemed like hours.

"So-"

"Will you go out with me?" Sora blurted it out and slapped a hand over his mouth like Riku could actually see it.

"…" Riku blinked on his end of the line. Was this some sick joke or were his dreams actually coming true and Sora had finally become gay? And he had picked Riku of all people …?

"Never mind, Riku, have a good night."

"Wait, Sora. A-are you playing some sick trick on me?" Riku blushed when he heard himself stutter.

"No! Why would I do that?"

"Sorry, somebody's done that to me before though…"

"So will you?"

"Yeah, I'll go out with you Sora… When?"

"Dunno tomorrow after school?"

"Sure, I'll come to your house."

"'Kay, see ya tomorrow Riku. Night!"

"Night, Sora." They clicked off their phones simultaneously. Riku spun back on his desk chair. Wow. That was so out of the blue. There he was, doing really boring homework and waiting for a rather miserable day to end when Sora Strife called. He actually asked him out… He actually asked him out! Riku genuinely smiled. They said it couldn't be done. They had laughed at him for falling for a really straight guy but who was laughing now?

"WHO'S LAUGHING NOW BITCHES?"

Demyx burst through the door at that moment apparently not sensing Riku there and not hearing the shout because with Demyx came Zexion. Wow, they were really going at it. Riku coughed when they had managed to get themselves all the way into the den and had kicked the door closed behind them, landing so Zexion was pinning Demyx against the wall.

Demyx opened his eyes but didn't break the heated kiss. He spotted Riku and abruptly pulled his head away from Zexion's. Zexion whimpered but saw Riku looking at them and stepped back from the mohawk-boy. He cleared his throat and looked at the window behind Riku instead of the teen himself, his emotionless, almost glaring look plastered back on his face. Sometimes Riku wondered. Demyx was blushing – while still looking quite pleased with himself – at Riku.

"Fine, I'll go, just no sex in here. I don't think I'd be able to be the same in this room ever again if you did." Holy caffeine. He actually made Zexion-the-emo blush! Wow, he does have emotions.

"Sure, sure brother. Just go someplace else." Demyx smiled innocently and winked at the silver-haired teen. Riku shook his head causing said silver hair to shake. He got up with his textbook and walked past the two teens, clicking the door behind him. He made it sound as though he had walked into his own room but he stayed just outside the den door.

"Riku doesn't like me." Zexion stated. Riku strained his ears to hear more.

"Nope, he doesn't."

"…"

"I do though." Riku could hear someone moving then stopping.

Demyx stepped up to Zexion and wrapped his arms around the teen. He smiled at him and Zexion smiled back, wrapping his arms around Demyx's chest. He always liked when the person you're hugging is almost exactly the same height as you. It always makes things easier. Demyx closed the space between their lips and pulled Zexion even closer.

**0o0o0o**

zemyx always cheers me up. I have no clue why but it does. 

This chapter was definitely lighter than the last…

Uhh the show _Rebel Billionaire _was aired in 2004 (I think). I found it an okay show…go lovesac! … uh, yeah

Uhh the second title of the last chapter was the name of a song by 30 Seconds to Mars

Review?

**DISCLAIMER: **I own well… n o t h i n g


	29. Awake and Unafraid

◆**29◆ **Awake and Unafraid

"And why exactly are you practically tripping me again?" Roxas was trying to walk down the crowded hallway in school. This was not being helped by the fact that his twin was acting more like a dog than a human being, or that Axel was randomly picking up the habit of walking and reading at the same time. Roxas had already steered him clear of three poles, a teacher and at least a dozen students.

"Because I'm afraid Riku is going to find me and then I'll be stuck with a really awkward conversation." Sora looked behind him anxiously.

"Geeze Sor, just because of the date thing?" Roxas grabbed Axel's sleeve before he could knock over the science teacher.

"Yes because of the 'date thing'! I do not want to go out with him today!" Sora whispered angrily towards the blond hair in front of him.

"Well, you're still going right? I mean, if you ditched, Riku'd probably never forgive you…"

"I don't like to back down after I've agreed to do something! You know that!"

"Axel what the hell is so interesting in that book that makes it ok to step on Jimmy Miller?" Roxas had been paying attention to the conversation with his little brother so he had missed catching Axel before he practically smashed the poor kid when all he was trying to do was tie his shoelace. Axel was apologizing like crazy to the now red-faced freckle-spotted kid at his feet.

"Uhh, dunno really. It's confusing. I have to read it by tomorrow though for English."

"Then what were you reading earlier today? The same book?"

"Nah that was a book I was reading for Reno because he wanted me to figure out how to cook Italian food for some reason…"

"… You cook?"

"Not well but he sure thinks so. Well, either that or he's the biggest lazy-ass I've met as of today."

"Probably both, it just didn't look like a cookbook."

"I covered it with the cover of another book because I am not Mansex's teacher's pet."

Roxas shuddered at the sudden, disturbing image in his head.

Sora giggled and Axel sighed.

"Sora, I couldn't help but hear that you're going out with Riku today. Right?" Axel smirked at Sora's annoyed expression but he nodded nonetheless. "I bet he's really happy. You know, he had like the biggest crush on you since the very first day of school when he pointed you out to me."

Sora felt the blush on his face, which just made him blush more. He looked away. Roxas turned to his boyfriend, smiled and winked.

"C'mon you two, let's go get some food." He dragged Sora by the wrist into the cafeteria and Axel followed close behind.

Surprisingly, they got to the table almost last which made Sora sit on the empty end of the table. Riku was on the end of the other side. He munched on his fried emos in silence.

Axel glanced down at Roxas' tray.

"Didn't you get through the whole 'I don't want to eat food' stage yet?"

"Kind of. Today I'm not hungry." Axel raised an eyebrow.

"So you didn't even get a drink?" He knew Roxas wasn't anorexic or bulimic or anything but still, he needed to eat more.

"Apparently that would be the case."

"Whatever, just eat something tomorrow. I don't want you turning all emo again like you were in the beginning of the year."

Roxas saluted.

Riku glanced around Demyx to see Sora but looked back at his food in a matter of seconds. He definitely didn't need to be looking needy right now. He just wanted to ask if he was still going out with him after school. Although the table had been full, making Sora sit on the other end of the table, Riku could tell he was being avoided. All he could assume was that Sora was nervous or trying to think up some excuse as to why he could not possibly go on the date today, no exceptions.

Riku, on the other hand, was ecstatic that he was going on a date with the brunette. He'd been waiting all year for the chance to ask him out but had always chickened out right before he had asked the burning question. He was anxious that he'd say something wrong or do something Sora didn't like but so far Sora had been a pretty accepting person. He'd made up with Riku after the experience at the Christmas party that as far as Riku could tell, he had hated.

His hopes were through the atmosphere.

**0o0o0o**

Sora opened his closet. His brothers always teased him about how he hung up his clothes (except underwear, that would just be weird) in the closet since they had never seen the beauty of them. They always chose dressers and drawers over hangers. He sighed and pawed through his clothes, passing up the older shirts and the holey pants. Everything in his closet he'd already worn in front of Riku in the past month! Ugg, everything suddenly looked so dull!

He fell back on his ass and closed his eyes. What to do… What to do…

"ROXAS! GIVE ME BACK MY DIARY RIGHT NOW!" Sora sat up and looked at his closed door.

"AHA SO YOU ADMIT IT IS IN FACT, A DIARY AND NOT A JOURNAL!"

"WHATEVER JUST GIVE IT THE FUCK BACK!" Sora heard a rather loud crash outside his door and he shot up, flinging the door open. There were his brothers, each tugging on either sides of what Sora expected as Cloud's diary.

It was blue.

"Uh, aren't I supposed to be the youngest?" Sora pointed at his face. Cloud glared at him and Roxas did the same.

"You could actually help me get my diary back from _your_ twin."

"No, help me get his diary to read all the mushy things he writes. You are _my_ twin after all."

Sora blinked. "Whatever guys. Roxas I think you should let Cloud have it for now…" He ignored the betrayed face and continued. "And uhh, could you come in here for a minute?"

Roxas blinked at Sora's sudden almost desperate expression. He smirked. Riku perhaps?

"Sure Sor." He pushed past the brunette and tugged him into the room behind him. Cloud graciously ran back to his room and hid his diary under the loose floorboard in his empty closet, unaware of the date with Sora and Riku. Roxas plopped into Sora's wheelie desk chair and spun it once. "So, what's up?" Sora walked from his anxious position by his door to sit on his bed.

"Well… uh… I have nothing to wear…" His eyes were focused on the carpeted floor and he was just a little pink.

"You mean to your date?"

"Y-yeah." Sora's blush grew. Roxas smirked. Sora didn't like to ask for help. Actually, he didn't either. The only times he'd ever ask for help is if someone's bleeding or there's an emergency. Well, bleeding is an emergency … He guessed it was because of what their Mom taught them a while ago, to stay full of pride and to only show weakness when it will 100 serve you in a good way.

Wait, was that what she had told them when she was teaching them to play video games?

"Hmm. Where are you going?"

"I don't know. We just said he'd come here in about an half hour and then we'd go someplace…"

"Okay well, you want to look nice but do you want to be nice in a 'hot' way or nice in a 'cute' way?"

Sora stared at him blankly.

"O-kay, I'll just go with my intuition." Roxas hopped up and sauntered to Sora's closet. He fingered the clothes and finally pulled out an outfit and flung it at his brother. "Yosh! Try them on!"

Sora stood up to leave.

"Matte-yo! Try it on here, now! We have no time to waste!" Sora groaned but nonetheless pulled his old shirt over his head and put the new shirts on. He was about to do the same with his pants but Roxas grabbed his wrist before he could. Sora gave him a funny look but stopped short when Roxas flung a pair of dark blue boxers at him out of nowhere.

"Roxas, why did you give me your underwear?" Sora held the underwear between his forefinger and thumb as far away from him as possible.

"It's clean idiot! You should wear them because first dates should be comfortable. No itchy boxers! See? That one is really soft like most of the ones I buy now." He pulled down the corner of his pants to show off another pair just like t he ones in Sora's hand but black. "You look best in blues and dark bottoms though, just like Cloud, so you should wear that pair." Roxas smiled. You never know how far it could go after all… "If you really don't want them, I'll take them back but I think you should use them."

"Whatever, turn around and I'll put them on." Roxas turned his back and turned around when he figured his twin was done. Sora was already pulling up his pants and fastening them.

"You clean up good, little brother." Roxas thumbed-up. "Now I have to fix your face." Sora gulped and was pulled from his room to the bathroom. Roxas plopped him forcefully down on the closed lid on the toilet and opened his drawer under the sink. Sora tried to see what he had in his hand but was simply slapped away. Roxas bent his head down so he was eye-level to Sora and ran something hard over the area near his eyes. Sora blinked twice. His eyelids felt almost sticky when they met each other. Then Roxas ran a comb through the brown natural spikes and pulled his brother to look in the mirror. Sora gasped a happy gasp.

**0o0o0o**

Riku stood awkwardly in front if the Strife house. Just an hour ago, he was still trying to calm down from realizing the fact that he was actually going on a date with probably his biggest crush he'd ever had. Of course, he had scolded himself many times for falling for Sora. He and Sora were close but for some reason, the boy made him really very shy. Sora was someone the likes of Riku had never gotten a crush on before. The last time he had to give himself a hand-job was when he had fallen in love with a completely straight, black-haired actor in their school play. He was a rather serious guy but he was very popular and always seemed to have people around him. Except Riku. Riku tried to avoid Mickey at all costs. That was of course, because he had fallen into an inescapable trap of a one-sided love fling that didn't seem to ever end – even after Mickey had left the school to go to a gifted drama school on the mainland.

That was, until he saw Sora. Something had just pulled him in that first day of school. He could never tell what exactly it was. Maybe because Sora had just been so happy and carefree on the first day of school of all days. Maybe it had been because of the way his brown spikes had bounced ever so slightly when he talked, or because of the lopsided grin that plastered on his face when he was having a lot of fun.

Whatever it had been, it wasn't helping him ring the doorbell.

He fingered the bottom of his long-sleeved green shirt, wondering if Demyx had been right and it was getting too hot already for warm clothes. Whatever. He shot his hand out before another thought could pop into his mind and hit the doorbell. He couldn't hear it ring and nobody was answering so he was about to push it again when the door opened to reveal a rather smiley Roxas who pushed Sora out of the door.

"No inappropriate things on your first date!" Roxas shouted through the closed door, causing Sora to blush more than he already was. For some reason, ever since that one fateful night at Axel's house, Roxas had been much more open about the topic of sex. Maybe it was because he had the experience.

"Hey." Riku looked down at Sora. He was only a few inches shorter than himself but sometimes he looked taller on days that his spikes were really … uh, spiky. Sora was wearing a light blue long-sleeved shirt with a black sleeveless hoodie over it. He had on black jeans that made his legs look longer and when he looked up to face Riku, the silver-haired boy could've sworn he saw eyeliner.

**0o0o0o**

Once again, 'yosh' is a Japanese word for something like 'yay' or 'alright!' or something but I never got the real meaning- just the outline of it. 'Matte' is the shortened form of 'chotomatte' which is 'wait'. The cause of the Japanese usage again is because I was reading some Loveless manga at the time… I must say, Loveless has become one of my favorite anime/manga of all time. Coughcough Soubi looks like Jade from Tales of the Abyss coughcough I love Soubi coughcough

The title of this chapter is a line from the song _Famous Last Words _by My Chemical Romance.

**DISCLAIMER: ** I own Jimmy Miller. That is all.


	30. Asleep or Dead

◆**30◆ **Asleep or Dead

"Hey." Sora looked back up at him with a faint trace of his previous blush still visible. "So…"

"What did you want to do?" Riku had expected the awkward conversations and silences so he was well prepared. At least ,he thought he was.

"I don't know, I was going to ask you."

"Well, we could go get something to eat…"

"Sure." Sora smiled and started walking towards the street. Plan A: success! No need to mention movies yet (for lack of creativeness)! Riku hopped down the stairs and followed his date to the sidewalk. Since Sora didn't have a driver's license and Riku didn't have a car (and Zexion had stubbornly refused to lend his to him as much as Demyx had begged), they had to walk. Luckily, the weather was good with only a few clouds in the sky. It was around 5:30 so the sun was starting to set already.

Ten minutes later, they made it into town. For some reason, conversation didn't start up as easily as it would have if they were in school. They both knew why though. The silence hung awkwardly for both of them but neither of them wanted to break it by saying the wrong thing.

They stopped in front of an almost hidden Italian restaurant that wasn't particularly fancy (so it wouldn't attract to many adults) or on the main road (so it wouldn't attract as many teenage customers especially at night). For some reason though, most of the seats were filled with adults who were all talking to the people at their tables enthusiastically. A tour group perhaps? Speed dating night? The semi-annual trip out of the mental ward for patients any sane person had the right to be afraid of? Sora and Riku plopped down on either sides of an empty booth. The waitress brought them their menus and they ordered immediately since the restaurant was a regular on both of their dining places list.

"You know, Riku…" Sora started to say something but stopped himself and studied a wall full of wine bottles next to them.

"Yes…?"

"I'm sorry."

"Why should you be sorry?" Riku really wondered.

"Because, I don't like to be this quiet, I just… don't know what to say." Sora averted his gaze from the o-so-interesting wine bottles to his date.

"Well, I don't know what to say either so we're equal." Riku smiled when this statement managed to make Sora brighten up. He looked like he was about to say something more when the waitress came up with their food and he caught himself.

"Okay, you two call me if you need anything." She smiled and skipped to another table. How could they always be so happy with such a sucky job? This place didn't even pay well.

Sora and Riku immediately began to eat. Sora, jabbing the meatballs in his spaghetti and Riku stuck some ravioli in his mouth.

All silent of course.

Soon, they finished and got the bill (lightly bickering over the payer who in the end was Riku), walking out of the restaurant and into the now dark street. The streetlights showed there were almost no cars now with little pedestrians as well. The night was warm, a sign of how close summer really was getting. Once again, Riku wished he had actually listened to his brother and not worn the long-sleeved shirt.

They walked side by side slowly towards Sora's house, both still as awkward as they had been at the very beginning of this date and trying to think of something, anything that they could say to the other. It was practically hopeless though. Of course they had conversations at other times but usually, they were with other people like Axel, Demyx or Roxas too.

Sora was so caught up thinking of how to break the ice even though it was well into their date, that he didn't notice the headlights zooming towards him. Riku, on the other hand, thought while looking ahead of him rather than at his feet and spotted the bright lights immediately. The yellow sports car revved around the corner with two more cars like it following deathly close behind, street racing. Since they were walking in the middle of the street, Riku couldn't help but pale. How Sora didn't hear their loud engines he was completely lost. He was also lost as to how he managed to grab Sora and dash so fast out of the way of the speeding car.

Sora, surprised by the sudden contact as well as the cars that he finally saw already rounding the next corner, stuttered when he looked up at Riku. "Ri-riku!" Said silver-headed teen still had his arms wrapped around Sora, hugging him close to his body while he looked after the cars.

Riku turned his head back to look at Sora and when he saw the uncomfortable look on his face and how close he was actually holding him, he promptly let go. "Sorry…" He looked again to where he had last saw the cars to hide his face. Maybe this was all too good to be true. Sora still seemed as straight as ever and the so-called date obviously wasn't a smash hit. Not exactly the romantic movie that you'd replay on TiVo all night.

Sora frowned, suddenly colder than he had been before. He followed his sudden impulse when he looked up at Riku and wrapped his arms around his chest. Suddenly realizing what exactly he was doing, the brunette buried his face in Riku's chest to hide his blush.

Riku on the other hand, looked down at the brown hair through his bangs and didn't hide his blush. Instead, he wrapped his own arms around Sora and pulled him closer.

"You know, Sora, that you're hugging me, a boy, right?" Riku frowned but asked the question anyway.

Sora pulled his head back and looked up at Riku's blue-green eyes. "Yes, I do."

"And you're…okay with that?"

"…Actually, I think I'm coming around to it." Sora smiled. Looking back on the whole 'date' now, it had been extremely quiet and to any other person it would have seemed very, very, very, very, very, VeRy, very, veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery, very, very, very, **OMG!**very, very, veryveryvery boring. Just eating dinner with practically no words whatsoever other than the formalities such as 'hi' and 'thank you'. But to Sora, he had actually thought it was… okay. Somehow just being with Riku had made it seem less like agreeing to a dare because of blackmail than a real date. Sure, it wasn't one of those romantic, kissy-kissy dates that were on TV and in books that showed how deeply in love the two people were because of how they cuddled and shared drinks and kissed and talked. Sure, it was nothing like what he assumed his brother and Axel had since they were already having sex. Sure, he was on his first date with a guy and not a girl like how he had always fantasized it to be but somehow, all this didn't matter. At the moment, all that mattered was how pretty Riku's eyes were in the light from the moon and how being this close to him made him feel o so very good.

Of course, he had no intention of telling any of this to Riku but hey, at least he could think and feel it.

Sora pulled away from Riku after a moment and started to walk back towards his home. When he didn't sense Riku following, he turned back to see him with a thoughtful expression. He ran back and wrapped his hand in Riku's. He pulled lightly in the direction he wanted to go and Riku came along.

Riku looked down at their entwined hands and genuinely smiled. "I like you Sora."

Sora looked up at him and just smiled, tightening his grip on Riku for a brief second. "Thanks Riku. And I'm sorry about tonight… I was just real nervous this whole time and I didn't want to say the wrong thing or anything. It didn't help either that this is my first date." Sora rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Really, your first date? It's only my second and I didn't want to say the wrong thing either." He chuckled. "I still liked it though, awkwardness and all."

Sora nodded in agreement. Soon, they reached Sora's house and were climbing the stairs. After that conversation, they hadn't talked much again but the silence hadn't been so awkward.

"So… uhh, I guess this is goodnight." Sora stood on the bottom step up to his front door with Riku on the concrete walkway in front of him. It made them the same height.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Riku blinked. "Goodnight Sora." Sora smiled and turned to open his door, listening to Riku turn and take the first few steps down the walkway. Struck with another impulse, Sora jumped down two steps and ran up to Riku, grabbing his sleeve. The silver-haired teen turned and blinked. "Hmm?"

Sora stood up higher on his toes and pecked Riku on the cheek. Riku blushed and looked down at Sora with wide eyes.

"Goodnight, Riku!" Sora just smiled up at him and dashed into his house. Passing Roxas on the couch and Cloud in the kitchen, he ran up the stairs two at a time to his bedroom, flinging the door closed behind him. He pulled back his curtains and looked out his view of the front yard, as well as the tiniest hint of the sea in the far distance. Tonight though, he wasn't interested in the shinning ocean. Instead he focused on Riku who was still standing where Sora had left him, looking at the house.

If he strained his eyes, he could see the smile on Riku's face that was truly happy but maybe a little confused. Could a happy smile even be confused at the same time? Riku shook his head, causing his silver hair to shine even more than it already was in the moonlight. He turned and walked down the driveway towards his house.

Sora grinned with all his teeth and fell back onto his bed. What was this feeling? All of a sudden out on the stairs he had felt this odd wave of emotion towards Riku that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

Whatever it was, he liked it.

He liked it as much as Roxas' satiny boxers if not more.

…

He liked those boxers _a lot_.

**0o0o0o**

I really could never picture this whole soriku first date thing to go over too well. I mean, Sora didn't even want to go originally! Ah whatever…

**LOOK::** I'm on the last chapter of this uh, thing and so please stick around! (it's not this chapter…) The plot's gone downhill, I know (well, at least to me it has), but it does have some good chapters left!!!!!

The cars… yeah, conveinient? Maybe so but they worked for me. They're supposed to be like in one of those street racing things gah, idk what they're called! I don't particularly like cars (other than Chevy & Ford sometimes… sad, ne? ) so I never saw any of those fast & furious or whatever. Is that even the right movie? I'm seriously lost on this one because the only time I've seen street racing was in Nightrider (too many re-runs in Japan. They still play Columbo! Although… I can't complain about the Columbo…) and again in My Name Is Earl… rambleramble

The title of this chapter is a line from the song _Famous Last Words _by My Chemical Romance

**DISCLAIMER:** I own nothing than this feeble fic and my newest addiction to **GRAVITATION** … I neeeeed moooore drool


	31. Sleep

◆**31◆ **Sleep

Roxas jumped off the couch when Sora barged through the door, thinking it was James but when he saw his brother, he relaxed. When he caught the huge smile whiz by, something pulled him to look out the window. He peeked around the curtain and saw Riku just standing there, smiling with a hint of a blush.

This made Roxas smirk. Maybe his brother wasn't so straight after all. The way that Riku was blushing, Roxas could only assume there was (1) physical contact of some sort or (2) Sora had said something really nice.

If Sora was anything like what Roxas had transformed into, it would be the first option.

After a moment, Riku turned and walked down the street in the direction Roxas assumed to be his home. He left the curious scene to creep up the stairs and into Sora's room. When their parents had finally set up a second room so that they didn't have to share one o so many years ago, Roxas had rejoiced. Who wanted to sleep in the same room with Sora? Roxas had been traumatized one night when he had found Sora sleepwalking and had managed to latch himself onto Roxas while the blond was sleeping. He didn't mind since it was his brother but still, he would like to know when he was sleeping with someone! Luckily, Sora never sleepwalked again so Roxas assumed it might've been a weird dream.

Sora sat up so he was leaning on his elbows on his bed. Roxas never knocked so he was used to it by now. "Hey." Roxas closed the door and hopped onto the bed next to Sora.

"What happened? You have to tell me everything!" Sora laughed at the desperate expression on Roxas' face.

"Nothing really happened-"

"Then why was Riku so happy just now?"

"When did you see him?"

"I looked out the window and he was all smiley and blushing! You made Riku blush! What did you do?"

"We just went out to eat and it was really awkward until he pulled me out of the way of a car and then I ended up kissing him before I came in."

"You kissed him? Where?"

"Just on the cheek. Gosh, you're so excited!" Sora laughed. "You sound more excited than me almost." Roxas jumped to his twin and hugged him tightly.

"Love you Sor." Sora hugged him back.

**0o0o0o**

Cloud stood in the kitchen, washing the dishes since the dishwasher wasn't working and Sora hadn't gotten home until three minutes ago. According to Roxas, Sora had gone out with Demyx and Riku to see some movie.

Cloud sighed. While his brothers were out spending money, he had to worry about getting a job soon that would pay for the house. How was he supposed to do that when the only jobs he could get without a college degree included being a waiter, working at a cash register or at a McGoofy's flipping burgers or something.

O joy, a hairnet.

Whatever he chose, he had to do it soon. He was even thinking about making either Sora or Roxas (if not both) get jobs too. It wasn't like they were so broke that they'd loose the house. No, their parents, being very high in the company they worked for, had made their family rather rich. And since they had always been modest about spending money, there were piles of it in the bank. Somehow they had set it up so the money would automatically be deducted from their stash when the bills had to be paid. They got a letter in the mail every couple of months telling them exactly how much money was left.

Whatever.

He finished drying off the last plate and put it in the cupboard over his head. Cloud sauntered into the connected living room, turning off the lights in both rooms on the way, and plopped down into the couch. The TV was still on from when Roxas had been watching it and the screen showed it to be the weather channel. What an exciting choice. He glanced around the room with bored eyes and stopped when he reached the phone.

It looked so lonely so he picked it up.

Without thinking much about the numbers, he punched in the combination he had recently memorized.

"Hello?" The husky voice sounded a bit tired but not tired enough to sound sleepy.

"Hey Leon." Cloud smiled.

"Cloud, hey. What's up?" Cloud could tell he suddenly had woken up just a bit more.

"Do you know anywhere that has a job opening and they would hire somebody like me?"

"You need a job?"

"Well, it's not like we're broke or anything but I'm starting to worry. James doesn't send any money anymore so we're living off of what they already saved in the bank."

Cloud frowned, sometimes he thought he worried too much but maybe this time he was onto something.

"Well, with your age and education you couldn't get a high paying job…"

"That's why I was thinking Roxas and Sora could get a job at a McGoofy's or something if we had to too."

"Right. Well, offhand I have no ideas but check the paper tomorrow and I'll keep my eyes open too."

"Thanks Leon." Cloud smiled.

"No prob, really."

"G'night Leon, love you." Cloud smiled and hung up the phone before Leon could answer.

"…" Leon blushed and when he heard the other end click off, he hung up as well.

"Well, whatever he said caused you to blush." Aerith smiled and looked over at Leon. She was at his house, helping him with science homework.

"…" He blushed more.

"I'm happy for you Leon. You're so dense sometimes that you never realize that people like you like he does until they actually tell you."

"Hey!"

"What? It's true. Remember how long he's had a crush on you? I think it's been like since that first day you partnered with him in Xemnas' class."

"That long?"

"Yes, that long. Mr. Dense-and-oblivious."

"…" Leon went back to finishing his science homework while Aerith looked on.

**0o0o0o**

boooooooooring chapter, yes,_ I_ _do in fact realize this_

ha, I just saw the newerish version of Poseidon and it was awesome. Cheap how they got out of almost every situation but still, at the beginning of it "o, I'll just watch a couple minutes, then I'll go do something…" something explodes "drooldrooldrool". I guess I'm like a boy in the way that exploding things immediately hook me but hey, I like what I like

chapter title: _Sleep_ by My Chemical Romance

**DISCLAIMER:** If I owned it, would I be this pathetic?

Ps I forgot to edit this so gomene…

Review?


	32. Da Ba Dee

◆**32◆ **Da Ba Dee

"Zexy where are we going?" Zexion pulled Demyx down the now deserted hallways when they were both supposed to be in PE. Cid was going to have their heads.

"You'll see soon enough." Zexion was used to his nickname now and it only caused him to blush when Demyx used it around other people. They always considered it a pet name.

Well, technically it was but that's not the point.

"I don't mind skipping class- especially gym- but I would at least like to know where we're going…" Demyx huffed.

"Patience, dear friend." Zexion smiled when he just heard Demyx sigh loudly again. Soon though, he pulled Demyx around the corner and into the empty science room. Since the teacher was away and they couldn't find a replacement for her in the short time, they had given all the science classes that day to a study period in the library.

"Why are we in the science room?" Zexion let go of Demyx's hand and the mohawked boy stood there while Zexion walked over to a desk and fiddled with some scientific somethings. Demyx trotted over to him and sat on a stool opposite of him. "What'cha doin Zexy?"

"You'll see." Zexion smirked. Demyx _really_ was bad at being patient. He combined some chemicals in a test tube and then carried it around the table and angled it toward Demyx's face. Said teen paled.

"Z-zexion! What're you doing?" Demyx pulled his head back but was stopped when Zexion cupped his face with his free hand and kissed him. He pulled back and Demyx looked up at him like a puppy. The blue-haired teen added the last chemical on the table to the test tube still pointed at Demyx's face and it caused a reaction that shot the mixture out at Demyx's face.

"Whaaa!" Demyx pulled back when the liquid hit his face and ran over to the sink as an immediate (and often utilized) science-lab-guideline set in. He turned on the tap and splashed his face with cold water. When he was sure whatever-it-was was gone, he turned back to Zexion. The scientist pulled a mirror out of nowhere and Demyx saw his very un-sad blue reflection.

"No not again!" He collapsed on the stool behind him. "Why'd you make me blue, Zexion?" He looked like he was about to cry. Zexion frowned slightly at his blue face but nonetheless didn't talk. He simply took a jar out of his book bag and opened the lid. He grabbed a tissue from the closest table and dipped it into the clear liquid that was in the opened jar. Demyx shuddered away when Zexion held the wet tissue up to his face, currently not trusting his boyfriend.

"It won't hurt, come on Demyx." Zexion pleaded.

"But you just turned me blue again! Why should I trust anything you do in science now?"

"Because I think I've made a breakthrough and I want to test it."

"… Erg… _FIne_ but if I have to melt off this blue with fire again like last time, I am not going to be happy." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Last time he had turned blue, he had to keep a candle close to his face for twenty minutes before it came off. Luckily he wasn't burnt but it still was hot enough to sting even after the flame was gone.

"I promise you won't have to do that again, just let me put this on you." He held Demyx's chin again and rubbed the soaked tissue all over his face. After a few minutes of rubbing a fidgety Demyx, he pulled back and held up the mirror. Demyx opened his eyes and looked at his reflection.

"I'm not blue!" Zexion nodded. "How'd you do that?"

"I told you I made a breakthrough. I've been trying a lot of different mixtures to get the blue off and I finally made this one that works." Demyx grinned. "You know, just in case it ever happens again…"

"You're so smart." Demyx got up and wrapped his arms around Zexion's neck. He closed his eyes and kissed him. Zexion kissed back forcefully and moved so he was pushing Demyx's lower back onto the science table. He dropped the mirror and wrapped his fingers around Demyx's waist. Demyx opened his mouth and Zexion took the invite, moving with Demyx's tongue. Demyx pulled his neck in and pushed their chests closer together if that was even possible. Zexion trailed his fingers down Demyx's hips and traveled swiftly to the inside of his thighs. Demyx gasped into the kiss and Zexion pressed hard into his warm (not to mention quickly hardening) crotch. Demyx moaned into Zexion's mouth and pressed his hips into Zexion's harder. Zexion smirked and broke the kiss, trailing his lips down his neck and sucking on his collarbone. Demyx threw his head back and moaned lightly through his panting. Zexion bit down on his collarbone which brought out another unstoppable moan from Demyx. Zexion ground his hips into Demyx's again and couldn't help his fingers when they moved to Demyx's zipper, tugging it down a little way until Demyx stopped him by stepping on his foot with surprising energy for someone who was practically blinded by lust. Zexion pulled his head back while moving his hands to the original position loosely around his waist. He looked up from Demyx's chest with knowing and sorry eyes. Demyx just looked back down at him, trying to stop panting but being very unsuccessful considering how close (and how very pressed against) he still was to Zexion in the lower regions. Demyx couldn't stop himself from whimpering and grinding his hips into Zexion's once more.

They both looked in each other's eyes and they already knew what the other was thinking. Both of them had confessed they were still virgins when this had happened before. That same time, they had also both confessed they weren't really ready to loosing said virginity. Still, sometimes their bodies took over their minds and they couldn't help what they did. Like now.

"What's happening in here?" Zexion jumped off of Demyx, causing the dirty blond to open his eyes completely. Xemnas stood there at the door with his arms at his sides. Realizing there was a second person behind Zexion that he couldn't see except for their feet, he strode into the room and past the emo-haired teen. He stared at the panting Demyx, taking everything in (including his bulging pants) and his mouth fell open at his position against the table. He darted his eyes between a guilty, blushing Zexion and a panting, blushing Demyx and it finally registered.

"Okay umm… both of you out now. And none of that in school!" Zexion almost smiled gratefully up at Xemnas and slung his backpack over his shoulder. When Demyx only took a few awkward steps past Xemnas and couldn't follow Zexion anymore, Zexion turned around grabbing his wrist and pulling him as fast as he could out of the science lab. Just outside the door was a professional looking, blue-haired man with a scar on his face. Zexion didn't recognize him and he could tell he wasn't a teacher at this school. The blue-haired man followed the pair with his eyes until they were almost around the corner. Then Xemnas pulled him into the now empty science room. He made sure that he locked the door behind him.

**0o0o0o**

I needed zemyx…

Gah! School is ending! This is so great because I have seriously stressed lately… but then, it is so NOT great because it marks just how little time I have to spend in Japan left before I move back to little old Illinois. Yea, big difference there

I had a momentous day not too long ago. My first extreme panic attack! Yay! See, I've got extremelyexteremelyomgextremely bad arachnophobia and I just freaked out. All I could see were spiders everywhere! They were crawling all over me and under my skin and in my clothes and food and and and… I had to listen to cds for hours to calm down. It was horrid

I didn't edit this chapter recently so sry for mistakes…

**DISCLAIMER: **I OWN NOTHING MUAHAHAHAHAHAA

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	33. The Boys and Girls in the Cliques

◆**33◆ **The Boys and Girls in the Cliques

"Tidus. Tidus! Tiiiiduuuuuuussss!" Hissed Kairi, rolling her eyes. "Jeez Ty, if you sleep through one more history class, they'll really fail you and not take you in when you come crawling back!" She poked him with her pencil and he jolted up, flipping his messy blond hair out of the way.

"O, it's just you." Tidus sighed, rubbing his face into his folded arms.

"Gee, I feel loved." Kairi rested her head on her hand and looked at the board so the strict teacher wouldn't catch her. Of all the teachers, he was her least favorite. He reminded her of what she thought a cross between a yak and a human would look like. Yes, he was _that_ hairy. His name was Professor Xaldin and his most famous aspect other than his crazy Jamaican hairstyle was how when he was extremely pissed (which happened often), the windows flew open and everything went flying. Somehow he had managed to rig them or something.

"Really? So do I! It's like… I'm psychic!"

Kairi sighed. Sarcasm was another language to most of her friends - Tidus being the biggest foreigner of them all.

Soon the teacher assigned some textbook reading for homework and the classroom was deserted within seconds. Kairi and Tidus walked to their lockers they had next to each other and dumped their history work for their lunch munny.

The teens had been friends for what seemed like forever. They had even seen each other naked and had pictures to prove it - although, they had been four years old. Each had the other almost memorized they were so close. It all started when both of their moms were in labor on the boat going between the mainland and the island. The boat only had one medical room that could be used for pregnancies and it just so happened that they were having contractions at the same rate. Kairi popped out just three minutes before Tidus and because of the friendship that formed between their parents on that boat, the two babies had been raised like siblings. In any other circumstance, they would have never been friends let alone ever talk to each other. Tidus was classified as a sk8ter boi and a surfer dude while Kairi was pretty and popular, real cheerleader material even though she refused to try out. It was probably just the cheerleader-hating Tidus in her that prevented her from doing so.

"Hey guys." Kairi turned to Namine who seemed to pop out of nowhere at the weirdest times.

"Hey babe, what's up?" Kairi finished stuffing her backpack into her locker and clutched her munny. She must not have caught the blush her words to Namine somehow brought out.

"Nothing really. Wait, Tidus were you sleeping in class again?"

"…" He nodded. How the hell could she tell just by looking at him?

"Yes Tidus, I'm psychic." Tidus gasped and Kairi smirked. Namine was also good with the sarcasm at times. Other times though, she could be as bad as Tidus or Selphie. Speaking of which…

"Where's Sel?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know. She was in P.E last class so I expect she's in the nurse's office."

"…" Tidus started to walk to the cafeteria with his friends. People always called him gay because his three best friends were girls but he knew different. Actually, ever since being dragged to an Elton John concert by his mom and then actually shaking his hand during it, he had been extremely homophobic. He didn't know why Elton John had triggered it by a mere handshake but that handshake had changed his view on people.

"Ladies first, Tidus." Kairi dragged Namine and herself in front of him in the lunch line. He pulled a Marge Simpson, as he was known to do. This involves pressing your lips together and growling in the back of your throat while squishing your eyebrows so they look really messed up.

They sat down at their normal round table between the windows that looked onto the field and then onto the street, and the gangsta table, in their normal seats around said table. Namine next to Kairi who was next to Selphie who was next to Tidus who was next to Namine. They ate their food while always keeping a wary eye on the gangstas at the next table. You never knew if they would randomly pull a gun out or try to steal all your munny while rapping about how much of a fag yo mama was.

"Hey, Namine." She looked up at Tidus from her tray. "That guy with the pink hair is looking at you again." Her eyes shot open and she turned around to look out the window. The school let you eat outside on days with good weather like today. And there, under the tree as usual, with the usual lunch buddies, was the pink-haired boy who was looking back at her. When he saw that she was looking directly at him though, he looked away and joined in the conversation between the blonde girl, blond boy and the thuggish boy who sat around him. She shuddered. Namine had caught him looking at her at least five times before if not more. It was kind of creepy. She didn't know his name because he was a year above her and her friends so they shared no classes and plus, they had never shared any words of any kind whatsoever.

"Nam, don't worry over him, I'm sure it'll die down soon." Kairi placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she turned from the window back to her food. Tidus watched the pink-haired boy look back once again at Namine and he sighed. Maybe he was being over-protective of his friends but he did not want this guy stalking Namine! If he had such a big crush on her, why couldn't he just pick his guts off the pavement and come out to her and say it? Wait, what was he talking about?

He himself couldn't go up to-

"Selphie! Where have you been?" Kairi, as usual, the leader of the group had expected Selphie ten minutes ago. Talk about being over-protective.

"Jeebs, I was at the nurse see?" She held up her left hand to prove her alibi. "Sprained my finger in basketball." She plopped down next to Tidus and Kairi and chomped into her sandwich. The other three at the table stared at her. "What?" She spit out. "Haven't you seen a hungry person before?"

"Well, you have tomato juice all over you chin." Namine pointed out.

"So sue me, it's kinda hard to eat a sandwich with one hand. My finger hurts like hell!" She licked the bottom of her lip and just took another bite of sandwich. Namine sighed and Kairi turned to look into the heart of the lunch jungle. Tidus smiled and followed Kairi's gaze to the table-with-no-name. Why was she looking there? It had no name because the people who always sat at it could not be classified. They stuck mostly to themselves so that would call them outcasts or nobodies or non-sociable but then they interacted with people like Tidus at times and sometimes let a new person sit at their table so that didn't fit. They couldn't be called nerds or geeks because none of them were particularly smart except the emo kid whose name nobody ever remembered and Aerith. They definitely weren't gangstas, sk8ters, cheerleaders, jocks, emos, artsies, goths, druggies, rebels, populars, rockers or preps either. So what else was there? Most people fell into these categories pretty well so how were they supposed to name the group of people who weren't in any of the said particular groups? They were all really close too and they had one of the larger rectangle tables in the lunchroom. The constantly had nine people there give or take a few on random days.

Whatever.

Kairi turned back to her food and Tidus did the same while swatting away Selphie's good hand that was dangerously close to his chips.

**0o0o0o0o**

Pretty much a filler, don't expect much from these guys in the future. So ignore this…..

Any j-rock/j-pop fans? I'm a **huge** fan, mom calls me a music otaku (because I slipped the meaning of the word on accident) for all the people I'm into now. My favs right now are **alice nine**, **miyavi** and some others. The people I'm fanning over are Tora, Nao and Saga (alice nine), Miyavi, Hyde, Reita (the Gazette), and others I can't seem to remember. Geeze, I can't stop listening to MYV!!! lol

**DISCLAIMER::** I own nothing

More chapters soon!!

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	34. All I Want For Christmas

◆**34◆ **All I Want For Christmas

"Hey." Cloud sauntered into the living room to his brother and Axel watching some movie and making fun of it. Seeing that his greeting had gone unheard, he walked around to in front of the TV, causing a whine from his little brother. "Ahem, Rox, I have a question."

"Ahem, I have a question too." Roxas glared back at his brother while Axel tried unsuccessfully to see around Cloud to the precious TV. "Why the fuck do you insist upon calling me 'Rox' when I have made it painfully clear in the past not to call me that?"

"You let _him _call you that." He pointed at Axel who shrank about five feet into the back of the couch.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "_He's _different and you're avoiding the question." Axel grew back to normal. "Whatever, what was your question?"

"I uh, wanted to know what's happening with Mom's funeral…" Roxas slumped considerably. "It's not like you have to go quick with it or anything but the morgue isn't letting us keep her there after this month ends… You said you wanted to be in charge of it right?"

"…Yeah, um, I'll get a date and send out the letters tomorrow if not today…"

"Okay, just don't forget." With that, Cloud strode out of the room without another glance at his now saddened little brother.

"Hey, I'll help you do it 'kay?" Axel forced a smile and tried to cheer Roxas up but he was getting nowhere.

**0o0o0o**

"Okay so it'll be in four weeks on the eighth of March right?" Roxas fiddled with a pen that he was using to write notes down.

"Yes, we have it marked in our calendar and will have all the preparations you specified for that day ready on the sixth. You can come and check on things then." A man who sounded rather sick spoke softly through the speaker.

"Good, thank you, bye."

"Bye." The man clicked off his office phone.

"So you've got that part all set?" Axel stuffed another letter into an envelope and licked the flap closed. Everybody, including himself, thought licking envelopes was disgusting but for some absurd reason, the adhesive tasted good. Go figure.

"Yeah. How're those going?" Roxas indicated toward the minuscule pile of licked envelopes and the even smaller pile of waiting letters.

"Well, they're almost done but they still need names and addresses. Do you have a list or something?"

"It's all up here." Roxas jabbed his head with the pen and scooped up the envelopes on top of the pile. "Well, I have to invite my aunt and uncle since they're blood relatives. I probably should also invite Dad's brother."

"If it were me, I'd completely skip out on your dad's side… What about grandparents?"

"I know my dad's parents won't be able to make it because they're on a cruise or something and my mom's parents are dead." Roxas shook his head. "Our family is really small actually."

"Yeah it is." They sat in silence while Roxas finished addressing his aunt and uncle's envelopes. "Umm, don't get mad that I'm saying this but, do you want to invite anybody from Twilight Town?"

Roxas seemed to freeze up and he looked out the window past Axel's head. He wanted to have them there because they had known his mom and they had all loved her. She was the one that had shown them how to find the secret entrance to the top of the clock tower and she was even the one who had taught both Hayner and Roxas to fight in Struggle battles well enough to win. They had a ton of fun with her, especially considering she was a mom. And plus, as much as Roxas didn't want to admit it at times, he missed his old friends.

He blinked. "Yeah, I think I will. I'm not sure if they'll come, but I'll invite them." He scribbled out three more envelopes and threw them onto the 'ready-to-mail' pile. "Then Cloud said to invite Leon, Aerith and Yuffie and Sora wants me to invite Riku. That would leave Demyx out so he'd end up crying so we have to let him come and that would mean Zexion too. I know you're coming… am I missing anybody?" Roxas blinked at his boyfriend.

"I don't think so unless there was any other family that would appreciate being invited."

"Nope. I haven't even seen my relatives in more than two years." Roxas gasped. "Wow, I just realized that I haven't had any Christmas of any kind in three years."

"What about the party with us?"

"That wasn't really Christmas. It was more of a movie night than anything else really."

"Guess you're right." Axel sighed. It was true. With all the things that had happened around the last holiday season, both he and Roxas had forgotten about buying people gifts. That had been awkward when all they did was take and never give. But hey, it was only called the gift-'giving' season on TV when they wanted you to spend munny on their products. Otherwise, why not call it the gift-taking season?

**0o0o0o**

real short, real boring, I know

oh, the title to the last chapter was a line from _Teenagers_ by My Chemical Romance. I love them, can you tell?

**I own nothing**


	35. In Wonderland

◆**35◆ **In Wonderland

Hayner flipped down the lid on the mailbox on his way up the driveway to his house. School had been a giant bore yet again and he was hoping for mail for himself. That always could put a smile on anybody- getting mail addressed to them when they weren't expecting anything whatsoever.

Even a letter from his great-great-grandma would cheer him up today.

He paged through the rather large bunch of fliers and bills till he found the letters on the bottom of the pile. One from the PTA for mom, one from McGoofy's for dad, another one for dad from grandpa Phil and one for him. One for him! He tossed the other mail on the table and ripped open the white envelope without seeing who it was from.

_Dear friend,_

_We are saddened to tell you of the departure of Tifa Strife from this earth. She will be missed greatly by those who knew her but we must also look to the future. She would not like to see us mourning in her absence. Instead, she would have liked us to say goodbye to her with a happy ending. That is why you have been invited to her burial & going away party on the 8__th__ of March in Destiny Islands. If you do decide to join us, we would like to know beforehand so please, reply by calling or e-mailing. _

_With all our love, _

_Strife brothers_

Hayner stared at the shaking paper in front of him. Whoa. Since when did Tifa die? Was this some sick joke because it really wasn't funny. Tifa was one of the coolest moms he'd ever met. Repeat: A _cool_ mom. What's more, this came from Roxas. How could he talk to him? They didn't exactly part on good terms. But then, if this really was for a funeral, he should figure out some way to do so. Ugg he really didn't want to talk to Roxas yet, let alone face him!

**0o0o0o**

"Ollette wait, the flag on your mailbox is up!" Alice stopped at her friend's mailbox while she fiddled with the lock on her front door.

"Oh, just take the mail then would you? Thanks!"

"Yeah, treat me like a dog for now…"

"Stop mumbling, evil doesn't suit you." Ollette managed to turn the sticky key and the door swung open.

"Whatever." She strode up the driveway, her blue, knee-length skirt flowing behind her. People made fun of her thrift store style. Today, they had thought she was extremely weird because of her mismatched blue and white knee-length legwarmers, blue skirt and yellow tank top with a blue headband to pull back her long, blond hair. Of course, this was along with her clunky black boots she had cut down so they were more like giant gothic clogs and black dagger earrings.

She really didn't care though.

She paused at a few interesting flyers but passed them up and shut the door behind her on her way in. She dropped her bag in the doorway next to Ollette's and refused to turn over her friend's mail when she asked for it. Alice abruptly stopped when she came to the second to last letter in the pile and gasped.

"Ollette! There's mail from Roxas! O, I miss him." She threw the mail at her friend, barley missing her head and Ollette caught it. Sure enough, it was addressed from Roxas in his very own slanted writing with the 'y' in her last name showing that he still wrote with curls at the end of select letters.

She ripped open the envelope and unfolded a simple piece of printer paper. Her eyes darted over the contents while she ignored a bubbly Alice, hopping up and down at her side to try and read over her shoulder. She blinked. Was this for real? Ugg she had hated it so much when Roxas had kept things from her. And he had done it a lot too! Some of the bigger things that had happened to him or his family, she had found out from someone else!

Wait.

**1)** Tifa was dead.

**2)** Roxas had made contact with her for the first time in at least 2 months.

**3)** Hayner and Pence might have received the same letters

**4)** Which probably equals a very pissed (or confused) Hayner

**5)** Which means no more free time for Ollette because she would have to help him sort out his feelings like usual.

**6)** Roxas is still gay.

**7)** Alice is still jumping around like the idiot she really is. What are best friends for?

**8)** The doorbell has probably now rung for the past five minutes.

"Alice get the freakin' door already!" Ollette broke the silence as well as her friend's jumping and Alice practically ran to the door. She flung it open and was about to say a cheerful hello but instead was rather rudely pushed aside.

"Hay-ner!" Alice whined from her spot near the wall. She slammed the door shut behind him and watched her friends.

"Ollette, did you get the letter too?"

She blinked. He was huffing like he'd run all the way across town to her house. Did he really consider this letter of that importance? It's not like he wouldn't but since it was from Roxas and all…

"The one from Roxas?"

"Y-yeah." Huff. "What do you think of it?"

"Well, I have no idea when his mom would have died but if Tifa really did die, maybe we should be there. It's probably really hard for him…"

"WHAT? What happened to Roxas?" Alice started to jump around again like she was in 4th grade. She really didn't need all the heart candies, tea parties and mushrooms (they all knew they were those funky drug shrooms and not the veggie ones but Alice never admitted it) that her step mom, Mrs. Queen, gave her.

"His mom apparently died and now Hayner, myself and probably Pence are invited to her funeral." Alice stopped bouncing and got this really sad puppy-dog look.

"Party." Hayner corrected.

"Sorry, party." She jutted out her jaw. "Why would they type in party instead of funeral even if they did want to say goodbye in a nice way?"

"I have no idea, all I need to figure out is if I'm going or not. It says to RSVP." He looked straight at Ollette. "Would you call please? I don't feel like talking to him until we must."

"Hey Hayner, why are you mad at Roxas?" Alice plopped down into the couch, pulling Ollette down with her. Hayner sat into the loveseat next to the TV.

"You know he's gay right?" He really didn't like this subject but Ollette had insisted on telling everybody at school and they had all gone to him for any other details of the story she may have missed.

"Well duh, everybody does." She rolled her eyes. Was he living in a cave on Mars with a blindfold over his eyes and his fingers in his ears?

"That's why. He didn't tell us anything until it came out when Ollette tried to kiss him and he stopped her." He blinked. Actually, why did he dislike Roxas? The only thing that had changed between when he had first left Twilight Town and when they had visited him in Destiny Islands was that he was gay. Nothing else had changed. He still loved the same music, the same TV shows, everything really.

Maybe his emoness had worn off too.

"Well, I think that's a bad reason." Alice crossed her arms.

"I second that!" Ollette raised her hand. Her liking for Roxas had gone down at least 40 since his coming out but she didn't really get to know the new him very well so who knew how much she really liked him now?

"That's because you're girls and you like to look at boys kissing."

They both giggled.

"True, true. Sorry you're not fond of yaoi and that kind of thing! You don't know what you're missing though." Ollette laughed at the end of her statement.

Hayner turned away and fiddled with the phone. He tossed it at Alice and it clonked her square in the forehead.

"Ow! HAYNER!" She turned dark red but Ollette held her back. Using the phone number on the back of the letter, she dialed it in and it rang.

"Ah no, stop that- AXEL!!! Ahahahahahe! Stop! Phone! Is ON! Hello, Roxas." Ollette couldn't help but smile. If she remembered correctly, Axel was Roxas' boyfriend. Or at least, he had been when she was visiting.

"Roxas." Simple.

"Oh, Ollette?" She could hear the background noise behind the voice immediately go very, very quiet.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Nothing much I guess…" She could see Roxas playing with his fingernails like he always did when he got nervous. "How are you?"

"I'm great, but I should be the one asking that question! I got your letter in the mail. So did Hayner." She sighed when Hayner made a big X with his arms.

"O right."

"When did this happen? I mean, you're not joking around or anything like that right?"

"Do you hear me laughing?"

"I take it as a real event then."

"That would be ideal."

"So when did it happen?"

"When the building fell on me, she… didn't make it out."

"I'm so sorry, Roxas! O, why didn't you tell us though?"

"Because telling people that my mom died isn't exactly a happy subject and you guys were only visiting for a little while. Why ruin the fun?"

"O, Roxas, when will you stop hiding things from everyone?"

"I try not to…"

"You still do it!"

"Axel, shut up!"

"He's your boyfriend right?" She saw Hayner shudder and Alice start to smile all happy-like out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah and sometimes I wonder why- just kidding, just kidding! Don't look at me like that! Jeez Ax, by now you'd think you would get when I'm joking."

"That one wasn't very funny, Roxy!"

"Aww, poor you. Anyways, are you guys coming?"

"Hayner and I are at least."

"Cloud already got an e-mail from Vincent saying he and Pence would come so that makes all the people from Twilight Town are coming." She could hear the smile. "This is great. I mean, I know it's because of the funeral but I want to make it up to you guys for last time..." The smile faded.

"Ah, forget last time. We'll be there." Hayner rolled his eyes.

"Thanks."

"Bye, Roxas."

"Bye, Ollette, Hayner and I think I heard something really loud in the background so that means Alice is there too…?"

"Correct."

Roxas chuckled. "K, bye."

"Bye." Ollette clicked off the cordless, black phone and threw it back at Hayner but missed him.

"You better wear a suit and tie, ass." She crossed her arms and tuned Hayner's rambling out.

**0o0o0o**

ever do that? Answer the phone before you get done talking or whatever? I have and it's embarrassing

I think that I have a Simpsons ref in here from an episode with Sideshow Bob but I could be mistaken

**I own nothing**

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	36. A Little Less

◆**36◆ ****A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me**

Roxas stared out of his bedroom window down at the driveway in front of their house. The red, rusty pick-up truck was there like it was everyday, waiting to take him to school. He could see Axel's hands drumming on the steering wheel, to the beat of some song probably. He looped his arms through his backpack and ran downstairs. Staying out of sight of Sora and Cloud, he dashed through the back door and hopped the neighbor's fence. He scratched off some leaves and kept running. He climbed over the next fence, a chain link fence that was taller than himself but lost his hold at the top and fell into the bushes on the opposite side.

Roxas stood up immediately and brushed as much mud as he could off of his clothes. Since having the experience of having to run away from Sora so many times before (he tried not to remember though), he knew where there was a gap large enough for him to squeeze through just in between the evergreen trees. On the opposite side, he dashed through some unexpected sprinklers and finally made it out onto a busy street. From there, he hopped onto a trolley and rode to the stop just across the street from Destiny Islands High. He paid his fee and ran past the other students who were sauntering lazily into school on that Wednesday morning. On the tiled floor in the building, he skidded into the boy's bathroom and collapsed in a stall. He caught his breath after a few moments and walked outside of the stall to the mirror. His reflection showed that he was a mess with leaves, twigs, and mud in his clothes and hair and some smudges on his face. It did not help his appearance that he had been sweating on the run and had caused his hair to stick to his forehead. Roxas turned on the tap and tried to fix up his appearance with water but finding that it was of no avail and that the bell just rang, he ran out of the bathroom and into his first class.

"Roxas! Why are you late and what is with your appearance? This is no way to come to a math class!" Luxord slapped a ruler on Roxas' desk by the door.

"I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again sir!" Roxas stared up at the blond man.

Luxord stared at him.

Roxas stared back.

"I had some pie for breakfast!" Jimmy Miller screeched from the back row.

Roxas blinked.

Luxord narrowed his eyes and turned back to the board.

Roxas sighed and relaxed in his chair. Luxord was a fucking psychopath. And Jimmy Miller for that matter.

**0o0o0o**

After sitting through a math class- the whole time keeping an eye on Luxord- Roxas dashed out of the classroom first. Of course, he immediately bumped into Axel. The redhead grabbed his shoulders to stop his from falling down and took a few steps away from the door.

"Whoa, slow down there Roxas!" Roxas blinked and struggled in Axel's grasp. Surprised, Axel let go of him and watched him run down the hall, around the corner and out of sight. Axel stood there with one hand clutching his backpack on his shoulder and frowned, his heart sinking.

_Did I do something wrong? _

**0o0o0o**

At lunch, Demyx, Axel, Riku, Zexion, Leon, Aerith, Yuffie and Cloud were sitting at their normal lunch table.

"Hey, have you guys seen Roxas?" Axel piped up from behind his almost untouched tray of food. What the hell was going on? After that first incident after his math class, Roxas had ran away from Axel every time they met without saying a word to the redhead. Now he was really worried he had done something that he couldn't remember.

"Or Sora? I haven't really seen either of them all day." Riku looked around the lunchroom. After their first date last Friday, they had been comfortable around each other but hadn't really discussed the actual date. Or planned any more for that matter.

They got a round of 'no's from the whole table except Cloud. They glared at him and he shrank.

"Uh… I don't know where they are." Still receiving death glares from the table, he shrunk again. "Honest, I don't!"

"Well do you know why they're avoiding everyone at school?" Zexion added his two cents. He hadn't really interacted with the Strife twins (or Cloud for that matter) but he had learnt enough about them by listening to their conversations and watching them interact with others. It was obvious to him the Axel and Roxas were truly in love but to others, it wasn't. It was also obvious to him that Demyx was completely oblivious and Riku only had a slight suspicion of it. As for Sora, he could see that he and Riku had at least come into contact with a 'love' situation such as a date or a kiss or something but that it hadn't gotten very far yet.

It was weird how observant he was sometimes. The talent had also been a curse in the past. Always knowing how people really were beyond their masks had made it hard for him to become friends with people. That's why he loved Demyx so much. He didn't hide very much and was so unpredictable so everything in their relationship was pretty open.

Cloud stood up. "Umnoidontknowwhytheyreavoidingeveryonegoodbye." He strode over to an empty table on the other side of thee lunchroom and his friend's eyes followed him.

"O-kay…" Demyx cocked his head.

**0o0o0o**

Roxas waited in the boy's locker room for his brother during the lunch hour. It seemed like forever in the stinky jock temple but Sora soon burst through the door carrying two bags of potato chips and some sodas.

"Finally, I'm starved." Roxas grabbed some chips and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Well the way you ran away this morning didn't exactly let me remember to prepare any lunch or grab our lunch munny." Sora crunched on a BBQ chip.

They sat there in the corner of the locker room behind the farthest lockers from the door for a few more minutes, eating their chips and drinking their sodas.

"With everything that's happened in the past year, I wasn't sure that we'd make it but look at us. We've survived to 16." Roxas smiled.

Sora raised his can. "Cheers for sixteen!" They clinked their cans together and drank them dry in one gulp.

"Let's see… now we can get a driver's license, obviously…" Roxas pondered out loud.

"We can join Myspace legally!"

"Already done that illegally so it wouldn't be fun, sorry."

"Ok, well we can… drive…"

"I already said that."

"Well what else is there that we can do now that we're sixteen?"

"…" Roxas blinked. "We can say that we've had our sweet sixteen's…"

"Oh, wooooooow."

"I know, right?" They stared at each other and broke out laughing.

Sora ended up laughing so hard (from joy rather then humor) that grape soda came out of his nose.

This just caused Roxas to laugh more at his brother's expense.

Sora slapped him.

**0o0o0o**

"Chhk. Blue Emo, come in Blue, Emo. Chhk." Demyx peered around the corner of the school to the field.

"I'm right here, Demyx." Zexion stood behind him at full height whereas Demyx was bent.

"Haven't you ever played spy?" Demyx stood upright and turned to Zexion, putting his hands on his hips.

"Sorry, I don't recall ever pretending to be a spy." Zexion studied his fingernails, wishing Demyx would bend over again. The view was rather nice after all.

"Well, then just go with it!" Demyx turned back to his original position and Zexion had to use all of his self control not to pull his pants down and fuck him right there. He had decided sometime in the past week that he was in fact, ready and wanting to have sex with his boyfriend but he didn't know if Demyx would so he had kept his mouth shut along with his pants.

It was a hard thing but if no sex for now meant a happy boyfriend, he'd have to deal with it.

"Chhk. Blue Emo, are you there? Chhk."

"Chhk. I'm here Sexy Mohawk. Chhk." Zexion slapped his mouth when what he's just said finally made it to his brain.

Demyx giggled and shook his ass the slightest bit.

"Chhk. Do you like the view, Blue Emo? Chhk."

"Chhk. Very much so. Chhk."

"Chhk. Save it for later, we're on a mission. Chhk."

"Chhk. Meanie. Chhk." Zexion crossed his arms.

"Chhk. Blue Emo! Target in sight! Chhk!" Demyx pointed out Sora and Roxas running out of the gym and to the trolley stop outside of school.

"Chhk. What do we do now Sexy Mohawk? Chhk."

"Chhk. We trail them. Chhk." Demyx started to dash around the corner and hid behind a tree. After a moment, he rolled across the ground to a neighboring tree. Zexion sighed and walked to the unoccupied tree.

When the twins got onto the trolley, Demyx took off sprinting after it and Zexion followed as close behind as he could. He wasn't in shape as much as his boyfriend was after all. They ran after the red and yellow trolley until it passed three stops and Roxas and Sora jumped off. They dashed into the house that Demyx and Zexion assumed was the Strife residence and they saw a light turn on in an upstairs window a few minutes later.

Out of nowhere, Demyx pulled out a pair of binoculars. Zexion slapped his eyes and started to walk down the street.

"Zexy where are you going?" Demyx called after him.

"I'm am not helping you peep on our friends." Zexion stopped a few steps away from where he started.

"Hmm, ok." As fast as the binoculars had appeared, they were gone. He trotted over to Zexion. "Then what are we gonna tell Bitch and Axel? They wanted us to find out why they're acting so funny and all."

"If I had to guess at why they're avoiding people I would have to say that it was their birthday and they hate birthdays or that they are in some illegal drug business or that they're deeply and madly in love with each other, more than just brothers."

"That's what they call incest right?"

"Uh, yeah but that option's on the bottom of the list." Zexion cocked his head in the direction he had started going. "C'mon, let's go do something."

Demyx trotted over to him. "Like what, sexy Zexy?"

Zexion blushed. "I don't know…"

Demyx entwined their fingers. "Let's go."

They started walking away from the Strife house.

**0o0o0o**

hey long time no see! Reviews make happiness and happiness makes quicker updates so get to it!

… if you want to that is puppy dog eyes

**(´****┏****＿┓｀**


	37. Hairy Hairy Cocoa Berry

◆37◆ Hairy Hairy Cocoa Berry

◆**37◆ Hairy Hairy Cocoa Berry**

Axel rang the doorbell to Roxas' house the next morning. He wasn't planning on letting Roxas ignore him today unless he had a very good reason to do so.

He was hoping that he didn't.

The door swung open on the first ring and Roxas strode out, still finishing a pink Poptart.

"Good morning sunshine." Axel grabbed his bag before Roxas could and slung it over his shoulder.

Roxas smiled. "Hey."

Axel smiled. "C'mon, let's not be late." They walked to his car and got settled.

"So, wanting to share why you were ignoring me so much yesterday?" Axel rose an eyebrow at Roxas.

Roxas looked over at him. "Not just you, everybody. It's a tradition for Sora and I."

"So you pick a random day, bribe Cloud not to tell anybody anything and ignore every person in the whole school except for each other?" Axel slowed down when he saw a police car at the next intersection.

"No, Cloud just knows not to talk about it or else me and Sora will gang up on him. We've done it before."

"And the date choice?"

"Not random."

"Then what day was it?"

Roxas looked out the window. "You have to pinky promise not to do anything if I tell you?" Roxas stuck out his left pinky finger.

Axel rolled his eyes but wrapped his pinky around it and pulled back hard all the same. "I promise not to do anything when you tell me what yesterday was. Now tell me already!"

Roxas sighed. "Yesterday was our birthday-" Axel screeched the car to a standstill and looked over at Roxas.

"Your birthday?" He blinked. WTF? "Why didn't you guys tell anybody?" I wanted to get you a present!

"Because we both hate them."

"Why?"

"Because that means we're older and we don't want to get older I guess."

"Well how old are you as of yesterday?"

"16."

"O, my god. You hid your sweet sixteen from all your friends? We HAVE to do something!"

"You pinky promised!"

"O but you have to let me do something!"

"Hmm…" Roxas got this evil look in his eyes and stared at Axel while he started to drive again. Axel glanced over at him and shuddered from the look. "You have to do three things for me and that's all I want. Deal?"

"Uh, sure."

"Okay first, you've got to wear something nice for the funeral. I don't care if that means borrowing some of Reno's clothes, just wear something nice." Axel rolled his eyes.

"It's not like I was going to streak at the funeral."

"Yea, yea, I'll believe that." He smirked. "Ok, second, you've got to go meet the Twilight Town people at the dock with me and try to be nice with them."

Axel blinked. "Easy."

"Third, you've got to let me try something with your hair."

Axel paled. "M-my hair? My beautiful hair? Are you going to cut it! I forbid you to cut it! And no dy-"

"Calm down! I'm not going to cut it or dye it or anything like that! I just want to see what it'd look like in a ponytail."

"Like my brother?" Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Not really. And plus, you're so much hotter than he is." Roxas caused Axel to blush.

"Okay are you sure that's all you want me to do?"

"Positive."

"Okay well, when we get to school, I'll park in the empty side so you can play around with my hair here."

**0o0o0o**

"Done!" Roxas leaned back from his creation. Axel's hair was in a ponytail but because of the uneven, natural spikes, the hair that was on top of his head poked up and the ponytail looked more like a porcupine tail.

To Roxas though, it looked very, very good.

"Ok, look in the little mirror." Axel flipped down the sun protector thing and looked in the mirror. He absolutely loved his hair! Why hadn't he ever thought of this? Probably because Reno had a ponytail in all the time and he didn't want to look like him. Well, whatever the reason, his hair looked amazing and he adored it.

"Wow, Rox! This is great! I love it!"

"Yea? So do I." Roxas smiled.

Axel turned back around to face Roxas and bent forward to kiss him. Their lips collided and Roxas immediately moved his arms so they were around Axel's neck, pulling him closer.

Then, the bell rang.

Roxas practically jumped out of his pants but didn't (to Axel's dismay) and hopped out of the truck before Axel could even register that he had gone.

"Fucking bell." He slipped out of the car, locking his precious rust machine as he joined Roxas on the sidewalk.

**0o0o0o**

hmm, this one was boring so I'll put another chapter up within the week, I promise.

I'm truly sorry I don't get these chapters up in any sort of time schedule! If you're still following this from chapter 1… well, thank you!

Happy summer, right?


	38. Returning

◆38◆ It's been Eight Bitter Years Since I've Been Seeing Your Face Ba Ba Ba, Ba Ba Baaaa

◆**38◆ It's been Eight Bitter Years Since I've Been Seeing Your Face Ba Ba Ba, Ba Ba Baaaa**

"God Hayner, if you lean any farther off that rail, you'll fall in!" Ollette pulled Hayner away from the boat railing by the back of his collar. He grumbled in response.

"It's not like it's any more dangerous than the clock tower…" He crossed his arms and Pence walked over munching on a corndog. "Ew… Dude, how can you eat stuff like that?"

"You're missing out on a ton you know."

"How? It's just a breaded hot dog."

"It's not _just_ a breaded hot dog. It's like… like a god food! It's so tasty, more tasty than normal food." Pence licked his lips.

"Okay Pence, that's the last time I let you eat one of those." Ollette snatched the corndog from his grasp and threw it in the trash. Pence sighed and sat on the deck of the ship.

"Well guys, fun's over."

"Huh?" Ollette turned back to Hayner and Pence looked up from his position.

"I see land." Ollette slapped him.

They all crowded around the railing of the large ship and watched as they crawled into Destiny Island's main harbor. How green the island looked from out of the water was astonishing to them. Compared to their concrete jungle, this place was like something they'd seen on LOST. Since they had traveled to the islands before on a plane, they hadn't really seen the awesome view. The only time they had actually seen the water was from the plane window and when Cloud had taken them to visit the beach during their and Roxas' falling out…

Ollette tried to block the memory from her mind but it seemed to come flooding back at her whenever she thought of him.

As they pulled into the dock, Hayner couldn't spot any faces he knew in the small crowd that had gathered to greet the passengers from the mainland. He couldn't figure out if that made him feel comforted or not. In some way he missed Roxas- that he had figured out just the day before when he was digging through his closet for a suit that Ollette was forcing him into. He had found a picture of him and Roxas, standing on the Struggle stage the summer before, Roxas holding the championship belt and slinging one arm around Hayner's neck and Hayner with a black eye looking rather pathetic but smiling nonetheless. That had been one of the best days of his life and even though he hadn't won anything from the tournament and had actually been beaten by his best friend, he'd always remember it as one of the best days. No matter what happened, he'd _always_ remember that. That's why he had taken the picture out of the closet and sat it on his dresser in plain view.

The ship bumped into the dock and shook Hayner out of his reverie. Ollette and Pence started to walk to the gangplank and Vincent stayed behind with Hayner. He always did seem to pop out of nowhere. Vincent looked down at him with his luggage slung over his shoulder.

"Well, are you going to go peacefully or am I going to have to carry you off?" He smirked. From how menacing Hayner had appeared during the incident –which seemed so long ago now- he really wasn't sure how much the kid wanted to be here.

"Leave me be, I can walk." Hayner grabbed the handle of his wheeled luggage and pushed past the black-haired man. He stopped outside the boat terminal with Pence and Ollette and Vincent came soon after him.

"Is Roxas supposed to be here or are we supposed to figure this out on our own?" Pence pondered out loud.

"I was pretty sure he said he'd be here or that he'd send somebody who knew who we were…" Ollette looked around the paved area surrounding the beach. Nope, no Strifes.

"Uh, there's Roxas…" Vincent trailed off while looking over his little brother's friends' heads. He was much taller thus was able to see farther. Laws of life.

Ollette turned to the direction he was looking and saw Roxas standing there a long ways away from them on the walkway. The blond was wearing a black sleeveless turtleneck that looked more like it belonged on Cloud rather than Roxas with khaki cargo shorts that went a little past his knees. He was looking up, at a tree with his hands on his hips. From their view, Ollette thought she could see his lips moving like he was talking but couldn't be sure. Seeing as none of her male companions were moving, she started to walk down the path, brown curls bouncing as she went, the boys following close behind her. As she got closer to the scene, she could faintly tell that Roxas was, in fact, talking to the tree.

"-and I am so not going up there to get you." Roxas started to tap his foot on the grey brick path, still talking to the top of the tree.

Something in said tree moved.

"Just jump already! If you break your neck, I'll cut down the tree," _Ok… not a tree hugger._ "Ok? I still don't know why you had to choose now of all times to _try _climbing trees…" Roxas crossed his arms. Who was he talking to? Then, out of nowhere, a pair of legs popped out from the tree. After them slowly came a torso covered in dark green fabric and then the redheaded person finally dropped fully to the ground. If her memory served correctly, this was Axel.

"See Rox? I can climb trees!" The redhead ruffled Roxas' hair and smirked.

"Laugh while you can."

"Are you going to start and say things like that again? Where you don't even get what you're saying? That's uh, really weird when you do."

"I plan not to."

"Well good 'cause it creeps me out, you get this look when you say stuff like that as if you're possessed or something. It's kind of scary!" Axel brushed off his pants and Roxas looked out to the ocean. "When did you say they were coming? I'm starved."

"I told you to eat before we left but noooo we couldn't even try a poptart because it was pink!"

"Sorry I'm pink-a-phobic."

"Yeah, yeah. Tell it to Dr.Phil."

"What time?"

"Um" Roxas grabbed Axel's wrist and looked at his red watch. He'd just bought it recently. "They should get here any second if they're not already here…" Roxas started walking backwards toward the dock.

Axel looked at where Roxas was walking (his boyfriend had this bad habit of walking backwards when he was thinking really hard kind of like Sora) like always and the faces registered instantly. "Wait Roxas-" Axel was cut off.

"O sorry, I didn't mean to-Ollette!" Roxas had run into her, almost knocking her over but he had managed to grab her hand before she could fall very far. He smiled and then noticed Hayner, Pence and Vincent standing close behind. The blond pulled Ollete up, released her and greeted the others. Axel walked up to stand next to him, a little awkwardly with his hands in his pockets. He knew Ollette and Vincent knew he and Roxas were together but what about the other two? Did they just know Roxas was gay?

"Hey guys! Sorry I couldn't meet you over there, dumbass had to get himself in a tree." Roxas talked behind his hand but Axel still heard it and crossed his arms over his chest, throwing his nose in the air. Ollette giggled and Hayner couldn't help but roll his eyes. The Valentine brothers smiled. Ollette stepped up to Roxas and hugged him. He hugged her back.

"Missed you, Roxas." She smiled when they pulled apart but Roxas was really unsure if she meant it. No matter how much she sounded sincere, she had gone through a lot because of him.

"I missed you too."

"Roxas, is he your boyfriend?" Hayner stepped up from his position behind Ollette and stood next to her.

"Blunt as usual." Roxas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he's my boyfriend. People have a tendency to call him Axel." Roxas eyed his friend. Did he care? Was this just some way to clarify whom he could direct his anger?

"…" Hayner just looked Axel up and down while the redhead stood there looking back at him with curiosity.

"Hey, Mr. Army. I don't mind that you stare." Hayner blinked up at the redhead. "That is, if you like…" Axel stuck his hands on his hips.

"WHAT? No!" Hayner spluttered and jumped back. Axel just smirked and lowered his arms to his sides. Roxas slapped him lightly.

"No scaring my friends."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Axel kept the smirk on his thin lips.

"Okay, well now that we all remember each other, I have an important question to make…" Vincent piped up. He personally wasn't a talkative guy and he was finding that it ran in the family because Pence wasn't very talkative either. Actually, he was even quieter than Vincent himself at sometimes.

"Shoot." Roxas replied.

"When's the funeral…" He trailed off, expecting the question to be quite harmful.

"…Tomorrow." Roxas looked away at the ocean with a faraway look. No matter how many times he told himself that he didn't do it, the thought still nagged in the back of his mind every time he thought of her.

It might be because of James though. He had pounded it into him so many times that it was like it was implanted now.

"…" Axel looked down at him, his smirk fading. The day when he had said that oh-so-philosophical speech to his boyfriend, he could tell that he had listened to him and had really believed him when Axel had said that he wasn't responsible in any way for Tifa's death. But then, when James suddenly appeared and punched the thought into him via stomach, the subject instantly became more hazardous territory than ever before.

Ollette looked at Roxas. He had changed so much since they had dated. The depressed face finally registering, she changed the topic.

"So, where's the best beach? Gotta keep up the tan after all." She smiled brightly and Roxas snapped out of his own world.

"Let's go drop your bags off at my place and then we can go." He and Axel led them to the rusty red truck and threw their luggage into the back.

**0o0o0o**

"Ah, finally." Hayner jumped out of the truck bed and into the golden sand. Because the spring weather was still a bit chilly at night (but rather warm in the day), the tourists stayed away for the most part (at least on this beach). Now he spotted about fifteen people if not less up and down the long stretch of beach that Roxas had brought them to.

Ollette and Pence climbed out after him, as did Vincent. Pence instantly spotted a beach cart that was selling ice cream and although he tried to hide it, clutched the money in his hand tighter. He loved food and even though he could be obsessive about it at times, he wasn't obese. Just a couple extra pounds plus a bunch of baggy clothes seemed to instantly get himself made fun of.

Vincent eyed the beach anxiously. When they had dropped their bags off at Roxas', the blond had called Cloud on his cell to tell him their guests had made it all right and that they'd be down at the beach. Vincent missed Cloud. He always missed Cloud. He wanted to see Cloud and kept thinking if he looked hard enough, he might just find him there on the beach. That would be great.

The boys pulled off their shirts and Ollette did similar. She wore a modest orange two-piece while the boys all had trunks with mostly different colors. The brunette girl spread out a beach towel and laid out on it, badly wanting a tan. What was the point for a girl like her to go to the beach and not tan? Roxas sat down in the sand far from the water and Ollette while Axel took the Valentine's to introduce them to Mario (and to warn them about his pepperoni pizza probably) who was selling his pizza and ice cream and popcorn on the beach. Hayner (almost) cautiously sauntered up to his blond friend and plopped into the sand next to him. Roxas turned to face him.

"I'm glad you came, Hayner." Roxas smiled warmly.

"I didn't do it for you 'ya know…" His tone was harsh and he turned away from Roxas. He didn't see it when Roxas looked away, hurt scrawled all over his face.

"Right, sorry." He tried to sound unaffected but maybe it wasn't working too well considering Hayner looked at him and saw his sadness. He immediately tried to think of something, anything to say.

"Sorry, Roxas." Said blond blinked but didn't look at his friend. "I mean, all I've been is mean to you ever since you turned queer on us. But you're still the same guy if you see past that… I just, I guess I just wish it was like old times when it was just the three of us, the musketeers, all straight."

"You know how hard it was to accept the fact that I'm gay? Do you think I planned it like this?" Roxas almost spat when he turned to Hayner. "I had always pictured me growing up, marrying Ollette and screwing her so many times that we ended up having twelve kids! That's how_ I_ pictured my future! That's how _I_ had it planned! You were going to be the best man at our wedding! But then everything changed on this island and now all I can see is Axel! He's my future and that's how I see it now. I _love_ him, Hayner! You've got to accept that sooner or later because if you don't, how will you ever stand to look at me?" Roxas finished his rant, finding his toes had dug such a deep hole in the sand that he could feel the cold water coming up from below.

"…" Hayner stared at him. Roxas almost never got so messed up about something like he was now. He usually just got pissy enough to swear his head off under his breath or emo-glare at his source of anger.

"You really like him huh?" Hayner almost smiled when Roxas' face eased up a bit and he looked back at him.

"Yeah, I do." Roxas smiled, _probably remembering something about Axel_, Hayner thought.

"Have you fucked?"

Roxas shoved him.

"No, seriously. Have you?"

"… Why do _you_ want to know?"

"O my god! You have?" Hayner widened his eyes.

"Shh, the world doesn't have to know!" Roxas slapped a hand over Hayner's mouth just to be knocked away.

"I didn't know you loved him that much! Did you ever fuck Ollette?"

"Yes, I love him lots and no, I never had_ sex_ with anybody else."

"Dude…" Hayner studied his friend. He decided that Roxas could stand up for himself with words finally (something he must've learned on the island) and that he might have actually found true love. Ha, true love. Who the hell thought up that BS?

"I meant it Hayner, I'm glad you came." Roxas stood and was about to walk away towards Ollette (considering Axel and the Valentine's were still talking by the food stands) but was knocked back to the ground at Hayner's feet by a lime green Frisbee. Hayner blinked. Roxas sat up, rubbing the back of his head and looked around.

"Who threw that, Hayner?"

"Uh, I think that guy who's running over here." Roxas looked to where he was pointing and covered his eyes.

The teen stopped running when he reached Roxas and bent on all fours to catch his breath. Roxas mentally sweat-dropped.

"Demyx, what are you doing?"

"You know this guy?" Hayner eyed the mohawked kid who had decided to plop down near them.

"Yes and you met him at the Christmas party thing last year."

"Oh…"

"Nobody ever remembers me!" Demyx looked like he was about to cry so Roxas patted his shoulder.

"Were you playing Frisbee alone?" Roxas tried to ignore the fact that the back of his head was pounding.

"No, Zexy was too but he overthrew…" Hayner eyed the teen and his use of names. Another queer?

"Where is he?"

"Erm," Demyx looked around. "I don't know actually… He was right over there so he must've been abducted by aliens…"

"Oh, I bet he was." Hayner rolled his eyes.

"Ohmygawd do you think it was Zim? O no!" Demyx's eyes watered up. "Gir's gunna probe him now!"

"Demyx, calm down." Roxas tossed him his Frisbee and he looked up, brightening instantly. Demyx leapt up and ran to a teen coming out of the water. From what Hayner could see, it was some emo kid with silver-blue-purple-ish hair. What surprised Hayner though was how Demyx practically killed the guy when they collided and Demyx hugged him.

"Roxas, is he gay too?"

"Demyx and Zexion are dating."

"Zexion?"

"The emo kid." Roxas smiled. "Apparently he's not as emo as he looks though." Hayner caught the blush on Roxas' face.

Roxas Strife was remembering when he and Axel had been sitting on the rooftop of the school and then Demyx had burst through the hidden stairwell door, pulling Zexion along with him. There, Demyx had attempted to pin his boyfriend but Zexion and crushed against the chain link fence lining the edge of the rooftop faster. From his view practically on the other side of the roof, Roxas could still see the major groping and hear some very suggestive sounds from the pair.

That kind of scene left an impression.

Zexion, having been dragged over to Roxas and Hayner, eyed the blush on Roxas' cheeks and then eyed Hayner with his uncovered eye. He sighed inwardly. Demyx had this tendency of making first impressions very odd and sometimes awkward for him.

"Zexy! Say hello!" Demyx elbowed his side rather harshly and Zexion coughed as a result.

"Hello."

"Hi…" Hayner raised an eyebrow.

"What do they call you?" How the kid managed to keep such an emotionless face amazed Hayner.

"I'm Hayner. Who are you?"

"Zexion."

"You're a fag right?" Hayner wanted to see if this guy ever changed. Roxas eyed Hayner. As much as his friend said about being alright with him being gay, he sure did make a big deal about it.

"That would be a cigarette. I'm just a guy who happens to like guys." Zexion twitched and out of the corner of his eye, noticed Demyx blushing. He hated the word.

"Cocksucker." Hayner practically spat at him. In all fairness, he just liked being dominant and getting a rise out of people.

"Titlicker." Zexion spat back with the same intensity.

Hayner smirked. This guy was amusing.

Demyx hugged Zexion. "Stop it Zexy! Let's go home now."

"Sure…" Zexion allowed himself to be dragged once again to his car.

"Roxas, you have weird friends."

"That would include you too then you know."

"…" Sanjaya'd.

"Does it look like rain to you?" Roxas gestured up to the sky, which was starting to cloud over. That's another thing with the spring weather in Destiny Islands, it was beautiful one second then it was cloudy and grey the next.

"Kind of…" Hayner personally liked the rain and wouldn't really mind sitting in it but most of the people he knew didn't.

"Okay I want to go home now."

"Let's go then." Hayner stood up after his friend and followed him to Axel and the others. They drove to the Strife house and spent the night there; awkward at times but for the most part, it was like how it used to be in Twilight Town. Axel left when Reno called and said that he had to come over because there was a popcorn emergency.

Vincent on the other hand, felt awkward the whole night. Cloud didn't come back to his house from wherever he was and Roxas managed to weasel out whenever he tried to get information out of him. Something was definitely up.

**0o0o0o**

hmm, longer than last time, right?

I've been watching many movies lately. Labyrinth, American Psycho, Goonies, Knocked Up, the newest HP, Casshern, Requiem for a Dream… the list keeps going.

I need to get off the couch but my friends are lazy TTTT


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